HOUSTON — Lance McCullers Jr. pitched six shutout innings in his season debut to assist the Houston Astros ship the A’s to their seventh straight loss Saturday evening.
Alex Bregman homered and Trey Mancini had three hits to place Houston in place to comb its three-game towards the A’s — two weeks after Oakland swept the Astros in Oakland.
A’s starter Zach Logue (3-6) gave up six runs on eight hits, walked two and struck out two in 5 1/3 innings. The Athletics have been restricted to 5 hits and left six runners on base.
McCullers, an All-Star in 2017, allowed two hits, struck out 5 and walked 4, tossing 47 of his 81 pitches for strikes. It’s his first shutout since August 31, 2021.
The 28-year-old McCullers (1-0) pitched for the primary time in 305 days for Houston, final going for the Astros in Recreation 4 of the 2021 AL Divisional Collection towards the Chicago White Sox. McCullers went on to overlook the 2021 ALCS and World Collection for the Astros as a consequence of a proper flexor tendon pressure.
McCullers acquired loads of offensive help from the beginning.
Within the first inning, Bregman belted his fifteenth homer of the season, making it 2-0. It was Bregman’s ninth dwelling run and thirty third RBI since June 17.
The Astros tacked on two extra runs within the sixth, stretching the result in 6-0. The inning was highlighted by Mancini’s RBI double as he completed 3 for 4. Since being acquired by Houston from Baltimore, Mancini is 8 for 27 with eight RBIs.
Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick every had an RBI triple. It was Tucker’s team-leading 76th RBI of the season.
