A's Miss Opportunties, Lose To Astros In 11 Innings
OAKLAND (CBS / AP) -- Carlos Corporan hit an RBI double in the 11th inning, lifting the Houston Astros to a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.
Jose Altuve singled with one out off A's reliever Sean Doolittle (3-4) and was headed for third on Corporan's double when Oakland center fielder Chris Young bobbled the ball. Altuve alertly rounded third and scored the tiebreaking run while Corporan was caught in a rundown between second and third.
Chris Carter homered and Jonathan Villar added two hits for the Astros. Houston has won the first two games of this series after dropping 11 of the first 12 between the two division rivals.
Yoenis Cespedes singled and scored Oakland's run. The A's have dropped nine of 13 and fell two games behind first-place Texas in the West.
Lucas Harrell (6-13) pitched one inning for the win while Josh Fields earned his second save.
Corporan, whose homer in the eighth inning broke up a no-hit bid by Texas pitcher Yu Darvish on Monday, entered the game as a defensive replacement in the bottom of the ninth. He hit the first pitch from Doolittle off the wall in left-center. Young fielded the ball cleanly but bobbled it briefly, allowing Altuve to score the game-winner.
The A's got the potential tying run on base in the bottom of the 11th after Eric Sogard's leadoff double, but Josh Fields struck out Alberto Callaspo, Jed Lowrie and Josh Reddick to end it.
Oakland also missed a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th when Houston left fielder Robbie Grossman made a leaping grab of Young's deep fly at the fence. Young also barely missed homering in the ninth inning Tuesday on a foul ball that was reviewed.
Carter, the former A's first baseman, homered off A's starter Jarrod Parker leading off the seventh. Carter hit Parker's first pitch into the seats in left field, a towering solo shot to put the Astros up 1-0.
Brandon Moss's RBI double in the seventh off Houston reliever Phil Humber tied it.
Both starting pitchers were stellar but left with no decision.
Houston's Jarred Cosart, the first pitcher in franchise history to begin his career with five consecutive starts of five-plus innings while allowing two or fewer runs, kept the A's silent early. He allowed only one runner past first base through six innings and didn't give up a fly ball out until Josh Donaldson's sinking liner to center leading off the fifth.
The Astros also backed him with solid defense. Houston turned a double play to end the third, and center fielder Brandon Barnes made a running catch near the wall to rob Seth Smith of extra bases in the sixth.
Parker pitched a career-best 8 1-3 innings for Oakland and had six strikeouts. The right-hander faced just two over the minimum through the fifth and made his only mistake came in the seventh when he gave up Carter's team-leading 22nd home run of the season.
A's manager Bob Melvin was ejected in the eighth after arguing a call by third base umpire Doug Eddings.
Sogard doubled leading off the inning but was thrown out on a close play trying to advance on Nate Freiman's deep fly to center. Melvin scampered out of the dugout to dispute the call before getting tossed.
NOTES: Castro's single in the ninth extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12 games. ... Carter's home run was his first against his former club. He was traded to Houston in the offseason as part of Oakland's deal to acquire Lowrie. ... A's C John Jaso still has not been cleared to resume baseball activities but the team is hopeful he can return this season. Jaso met with a concussion specialist in Pittsburgh earlier this week. ... CF Coco Crisp was held out of the lineup after getting a cortisone injection in his wrist on Tuesday. ... The Astros called up INF Marwin Gonzalez from Triple-A Oklahoma City and optioned RHP Jorge DeLeon down. ... Houston traded minor league LHP Travis Blackley to Texas in exchange for a player to be named later and cash considerations.
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