Houston Astros vs Oakland Athletics Match Player Stats On Aug 09, 2020

Oakland tattooed rookie Cristian Javier for three early home runs and Jesus Luzardo recorded his first major-league win by pitching into the sixth inning Sunday as the host Athletics completed a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros with a 7-2 victory.

Tempers flared late in the showdown between the American League West rivals after A's center fielder Ramon Laureano was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game with Oakland leading 6-2 in the seventh.

Laureano charged the Houston dugout from first base, and as he was tackled by Astros players, Oakland catcher Austin Allen raced in and engaged aggressively with Houston counterpart Martin Maldonado.

Laureano and Allen were ejected.

The Oakland bullpen, which had allowed just one earned run over eight innings in the first two games of the series, was brilliant once again in the series finale, following Luzardo with 3 1/3 shutout innings to wrap up the Athletics' ninth straight win.

Yuli Gurriel had a double and his third home run for the Astros, who lost their fifth straight.

Robbie Grossman opened the scoring with his second homer of the series, a solo shot in the second inning, before the A's ran off to a 5-0 lead with a four-run third.

Javier (1-1), making his third major league start, walked Tony Kemp and Marcus Semien to set the stage for the A's in the third.

With two outs, Matt Olson belted a three-run homer to center field, and Matt Chapman followed with a solo shot to left-center for a 5-0 lead.

The homers were the fifth for Olson and fourth for Chapman.

Javier was pulled at inning's end, having allowed five runs and three hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Luzardo (1-0), who made his first career start earlier in the week, left leading 5-2 in the sixth, having served up Gurriel's two-run shot in the fourth.

He was charged with two runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

The A's added single runs in the fifth on a two-out infield single by Mark Canha and in the seventh on a Chapman double. In both innings, Laureano had reached base when hit by a pitch.

Yusmeiro Petit and Burch Smith followed Luzardo for Oakland, with Smith working the final three innings, allowing one hit, for his first save.

--Field Level Media