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Game #85: A’s drop series opener to Astros

Oakland dropped their fourth straight to the Houston Astros, falling by a final of 8-3 on a cool Friday night at the Coliseum.

Both the pitching and the bats looked good early but fell off hard in the middle innings against an elite opponent. The Astros have the second-best record in the American League this year and they showed why tonight.

Good signs early

Both sides of the ball got off to a hot start in this game. Starting pitcher Paul Blackburn was excellent his first time through the order, retiring the side in order in each of the first three innings while racking up five swinging strikeouts along the way, including K’ing the side in the first.