Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Match Player Stats On Aug 29, 2020 Game 2

Kyle Tucker hit a three-run triple in the first and right-hander Zack Greinke threw five effective innings as the host Houston Astros completed a doubleheader sweep of the first-place Oakland Athletics with a 6-3 victory Saturday night.

Tucker began a six-RBI day with a three-run homer in the opener, also in the first inning, sending the Astros to the win.

The doubleheader was created when the American League West frontrunners staged a joint protest Friday over the recent shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin.

After Ramon Laureano led off the nightcap with a homer off Greinke (2-0), the Astros bounced right back with singles by George Springer and Michael Brantley, followed by a walk to Yuli Gurriel to load the bases against Oakland's Frankie Montas (2-3).

Tucker then blasted his bases-clearing triple to give the Astros a lead they never relinquished.

Springer added a two-run homer, his fifth of the season, to make it 5-1 in the third, and Houston held on despite a subsequent homer by Oakland's Matt Chapman, his 10th of the year.

The A's got within 5-3 in the fifth and brought the potential tying run to the plate in Chapman, but Greinke got him to pop up for the inning's final out.

Blake Taylor used a double play to complete a scoreless sixth inning and, after the Astros added a run on a Gurriel sacrifice fly, Houston closer Ryan Pressly needed just 11 pitches in the seventh to close the door on his second save of the day and sixth of the season.

Greinke was charged with three runs on six hits in his five innings. He struck out six and did not walk a batter.

Montas was pulled one out into the fourth, having allowed five runs and six hits. He walked two and struck out five.

Laureano's homer was his fourth of the season. He was suspended earlier this month for charging the Astros dugout during an A's three-game sweep in Oakland.

Springer, Brantley, Jose Altuve and Martin Maldonado had two hits apiece for the Astros, who have gone 13-5 since leaving Oakland on Aug. 9.

Laureano and Chapman collected a pair of hits apiece for the A's, who had begun a nine-game trip with two wins in three meetings with the Texas Rangers.

--Field Level Media