HOUSTON (AP) — Oakland starter Jesse Hahn felt good entering Friday night’s game against the Houston Astros.
Those good feelings evaporated quickly.
Evan Gattis tied a career-high with four hits, including a homer, and had four RBIs as the Astros jumped on Hahn for seven runs in the first inning and cruised to a 12-2 victory over the Athletics.
“I thought it was going to be a really good night, but once I got started, everything felt out of whack,” Hahn said. “Toward the end of it, I was definitely a little frustrated, and I think I got a little overaggressive and made some stupid pitches. I just didn’t feel right.”
The Astros were up 2-0 with two outs in the first when Tyler White drove in a run with a single. The inning looked to be over after that, but a fly ball hit by Tony Kemp to the warning track in right field bounced in and out of the glove of Chris Coghlan for a two-run triple.
“I’ve caught that ball plenty of times,” Coghlan said. “We were playing him the other way so, yeah, I did have a long run, but it’s still a ball I’ve caught before. I felt bad because that’s three outs and it limits the damage.”
Jake Marisnick’s RBI single made it 6-0 and Hahn was chased when George Springer, the 10th batter of the inning, drove home another run with a single.
Hahn (2-3) allowed six hits and a career-high seven runs in 2/3 innings, the shortest start of his career.
“I put the team in a hole there, so you can put that one on me,” he said. “That’s a terrible job on my part.”
Houston starter Doug Fister (5-3) yielded four hits and struck out three in six scoreless innings for his fourth straight win.
Gattis, who entered the game 0 for 6, hit a two-run homer in the fourth to the train tracks atop left field after Carlos Correa belted a triple which landed at the back of Tal’s Hill in straightaway center field. Houston tacked on three more runs in the fifth to make it 12-0.
It is Houston’s sixth win in seven games and snaps Oakland’s five-game winning streak.
Marcus Semien hit a solo homer in the seventh for the Athletics and Billy Butler made it 12-2 with an RBI double in the eighth.
The seven runs the Astros scored in the first inning were the most they scored in an opening frame since chasing Seattle’s Felix Hernandez with just one out in the first after tagging him for eight runs last June.
Houston’s big offensive night came a day after the Astros were shut out in a 3-0 loss to Arizona where Zack Greinke fanned 11 in seven innings.
Colby Rasmus had two hits and two RBIs on a night when everyone in Houston’s starting lineup except for Luis Valbuena collected a hit.
PITCHING DEBUT
Hahn’s early exit forced the A’s to use five relievers, including Tyler Ladendorf, an infielder who hadn’t pitched since high school. He allowed one hit and walked one in a scoreless eighth. He said he wasn’t nervous since the game was so out of hand, but he was a bit jumpy on the mound.
“They said: ‘Make sure you’re stretched out, and be ready for a comebacker when you go out there. You don’t want one to buzz your tower,’” he said. “So I was a little flinchy when Gattis broke his bat out there, and the ball wasn’t even really headed in my direction.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: LHP Rich Hill, May’s AL pitcher of the month, was scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday because of a groin strain. Hill left last Saturday’s start in the seventh inning with what was termed a mild groin strain and the A’s thought he’d be able to pitch on Saturday. Instead he felt some discomfort while throwing off flat ground on Friday and was scratched.
UP NEXT
Athletics: Kendall Graveman (2-6, 5.09), who was scheduled to pitch on Sunday, will move up a day to fill in for Hill. Graveman allowed six hits and two runs in six innings of a 3-2 win over Minnesota in his last start to snap a five-game skid.
Astros: Collin McHugh (5-4, 4.82) will start for Houston on Saturday. McHugh allowed five hits and three runs in his the first complete game of his career in an 8-3 win over Arizona in his last start.