The Oakland A’s like to use the late innings to piece together enough offense in wins. Against a tough starter in Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr., the A’s might carry out one of their specialty come-back wins against a young, fragile Houston bullpen. But what happens when those late innings are shaved off?
The A’s played and lost, 4-2, their first seven-inning game in Saturday’s double-header. They wouldn’t get the privilege of opening up the opposing team’s bullpen. This one was nearly all McCullers. He had the A’s whiffing and looking at a filthy array of knuckle curveballs, sinkers and a ton of changeups that appeared interchangeable with his sinker.