OAKLAND, Calif.—Lawrence Butler hit one of the Oakland Athletics’ five home runs, fell a single short of the cycle, and made a tremendous throw from right field to cut down a runner at the plate, highlighting an 8–2 victory over the Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
Brent Rooker, Seth Brown, Zack Gelof, and Shea Langeliers also went deep to help the A’s beat the American League West-leading Astros for a second consecutive night.
Butler tripled and scored on Rooker’s two-run drive in the first inning, homered in the third, and doubled in a run in the sixth. The longball was his eighth in July, and the A’s leadoff hitter leads the majors with 24 RBIs this month.
“I’m just trying to keep putting up good at-bats, keeping hitting the ball hard, just letting the game be the game,” Butler said. “Just really continue to be myself and put up good at-bats for the rest of the team.”
Needing a single to complete the A’s first cycle since 2007, Butler drew a five-pitch walk against Rafael Montero, raising a smattering of boos from the crowd of 5,896 at the Oakland Coliseum.
“This kid just has the momentum right now,” A’s Manager Mark Kotsay said. “This is the type of baseball, when we brought him up last year, that I thought he’s capable of playing. Now we’re starting to see it, see it every day.”
Victor Caratini and Jeremy Peña homered for the Astros.
Oakland’s Osvaldo Bido (2–1) struck out six in five innings in his second career start and first since May 8. Bido allowed one run on four hits.
“For him to get through five innings and do what he did against a really good Astros lineup, you gotta tip your cap,” Kotsay said. “Job well done.”
The A’s, who entered the night tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the major-league lead in double plays turned, added to that list when Butler caught a fly ball and made a no-hop throw to nail Alex Bregman, who tagged up and tried to score from third base in the top of the first.
Kotsay called it the play of the game, and so did several of Butler’s teammates.
“He makes that play, they don’t score, and everybody’s excited,” Rooker said. “He’s out there doing it all. He’s showing that he has the ability, which we all knew, to go out there and be a game-changer and be a dynamic player in this league.”
Butler rode that momentum into his first at-bat with a leadoff triple against Jake Bloss (0–1). Three batters later, Rooker crushed a 0–1 fastball into the left-field stands.
Rooker’s homer was his team-leading 23rd. Brown and Gelof connected for back-to-back shots off Bloss in the fourth. Langeliers’ 19th homer came against Seth Martinez in the seventh.
It was the fifth game this season in which the A’s have hit four or more homers, tied for the fifth-highest total in the majors.
Bloss allowed five runs and six hits in four innings of his third career start. He had five strikeouts and one walk.
