JP Sears struggles as Athletics fall to Astros

JP Sears unraveled in the seventh and the Oakland Athletics’ offense was unable to string anything together Wednesday in a 8-1 loss to the Houston Astros.

The Astros got off to a quick start against JP Sears in Wednesday’s game. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman led off the game with a pair of singles. Sears got Yordan Alvarez to ground into a force out for the first out, but Yainer Diaz plated the first run of the game with a sacrifice fly to give Houston an early lead.

The A’s answered back quickly though. Lawrence Butler stayed hot with a leadoff double and then came around to score on another double by Miguel Andujar to tie the game.

Sears retired Mauricio Dubon to start the second but Jon Singleton reached on an error by first baseman Seth Brown. That would come back to haunt Sears as Altuve singled home Singleton to put Houston back in front 2-1. Altuve was thrown out at second by Andujar to end the inning but the run crossed the plate in time.

Sears started to settle in and retired the side in order in the third and then needed just seven pitches to navigate the fourth. He retired seven straight before Chas McCormick tagged him for a solo shot to center with one out in the fifth to push the deficit to 3-1.

The Astros continued to add on the sixth as Diaz doubled and then came around to score on a single by Jeremy Pena to make it 4-1. He avoided any further damage in the sixth but was then sent back out for the seventh.

Singleton began the inning for a single and moved to second as Sears hit McCormick with a pitch. Altuve followed with a double to score Singleton to make it 5-1. Sears stayed in after a mound visit and allowed a double to Bregman that scored two more runs to make it 7-1. He was finally replaced by Kyle Muller who allowed a sacrifice fly to Diaz to make it 8-1.

Mark Kotsay did Sears no favors by sticking with him for so long in the seventh. He would exit having allowed nine hits and seven earned runs in six innings. He struck out three and didn’t walk anyone.

The A’s threatened again in the seventh as Butler walked and JJ Bleday reached on an error by Singleton, However, Brent Rooker flew out to center on a nice play by Jake Meyers to end the threat.

Muller worked three scoreless innings in relief. Seth Brown had three hits in the loss. Oakland was just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 10 men on base.

Oakland falls to 41-63 for the season. They will continue their homestand Thursday when they begin a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.