Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Match Player Stats On Sep 08, 2020

Robbie Grossman broke a sixth-inning tie with an RBI single and Khris Davis drove in two runs, one with his first home run in more than a month, sending the Oakland Athletics to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Houston Astros in the first game of a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon.

The A's (25-14), who were the designated road team in the opener because it was the make-up of a postponement Aug. 30 in Houston, were to bat last in the second game against the Astros (21-21).

After a two-run homer by Houston's Michael Brantley in the fifth inning offset a two-run Oakland uprising in the third, the A's scored the decisive runs off Astros right-hander Zack Greinke (3-1) following a Ramon Laureano double to open the sixth.

With one out, Grossman singled to center to break the tie. After a second out, Davis launched a double to right-center to plate Grossman and make it 4-2.

The two-RBI day was just the third of the season for Davis, who had a pair of them consecutively on Aug. 3 at Seattle and Aug. 6 against Texas.

The homer was just Davis' second of the season, with the first having come on that two-RBI day against the Mariners on Aug. 3. It opened the third inning as Greinke and A's right-hander Frankie Montas (3-3) were locked in dueling early shutouts to that point.

Oakland scored a second run in the inning when Chad Pinder reached on an infield single, Tommy La Stella walked and, with two outs, Laureano singled home Pinder.

Montas had allowed four hits, including a pair of Brantley doubles, but no runs until the fifth. Then the Houston left fielder struck again, this time for his fourth homer of the season after a George Springer single to produce a 2-2 tie.

Montas was pulled after five innings, charged with two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out four.

Protecting a two-run lead, A's left-hander Jake Diekman pitched a 1-2-3 sixth before closer Liam Hendriks pitched around an Aledmys Diaz pinch-hit single in a scoreless seventh for his 11th save.

Attempting to prevent the Astros from losing a sixth straight, Greinke went six innings, allowing a season-high four runs and seven hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Davis, who had totaled just nine hits all season in a part-time role, had two hits for Oakland, as did Laureano and Pinder.

Brantley finished with three of Houston's seven hits in a lineup that included Alex Bregman, activated off the injured list before the game. He went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts, the second of which ended the game with Bregman as the potential tying run.

--Field Level Media