Manaea follows no-no with strong start as A’s beat Astros
HOUSTON (AP) Sean Manaea didn't throw another no-hitter. He didn't have to for Oakland to knock off the World Series champions on Friday night.
Manaea followed up his no-hitter with seven solid innings, three Athletics homered and Oakland beat the Houston Astros 8-1 for its fifth win in six games.
Manaea (4-2) no-hit Boston last Saturday and didn't allow a hit Friday until the fourth inning.
''Things were working well today, and I was just trying to throw strikes,'' Manaea said. ''I wasn't trying to think anything differently, was just trying to get outs.''
He gave up one unearned run on four hits and a walk and struck out seven.
''There's the potential - I don't want to say letdown - but after you go through something like that, and you take the mound again, certainly a lot went on between then and the next start, but he was focused right away,'' Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. ''You have to refocus and do your thing. He did exactly that.''
Manaea has gone at least five innings while allowing two runs or fewer in each of his starts this season.
''He was hitting his spots,'' Houston's Carlos Correa said. ''His changeup was working. He was throwing it from behind in the count to get back in the count. His fastball was good. It was a great performance by him.''
Houston starter Dallas Keuchel (1-4) retired his first 13 batters before Matt Chapman hit a one-out homer in the fifth into the first row of the Crawford Boxes in left field to tie it 1-1.
Chad Pinder put the Athletics ahead 3-1 with a two-run homer in the sixth. Matt Olson's RBI single in the seventh scored Chapman, who had doubled, and Mark Canha followed with a two-run homer to up the lead to 6-1. Jed Lowrie had a two-run triple in the eighth.
''It is big to keep adding on like that,'' Pinder said. ''With a team like that, you have to do that because those guys can comeback. It doesn't matter how many runs you put up, those guys can come back with the best of them.''
Correa singled in George Springer in the fourth, the first hit off Manaea since Seattle's Taylor Motter hit a one-out solo homer in the fifth inning on April 15.
''We couldn't bunch anything together to where we could get something going and get on a roll a little bit,'' Houston manager AJ Hinch said.
Manaea's 14-inning hitless streak was the longest for the A's since the franchise moved to Oakland, topping John Odom's 13 innings on June 1 and 7, 1968.
The only pitcher to throw consecutive no-hitters was Cincinnati's Johnny Vander Meer against Brooklyn and the Boston Bees in June 1938.
Keuchel allowed a season-high six runs on seven hits in seven innings. Keuchel had allowed three runs or fewer in each of his five previous starts this season.
Keuchel said the outing would probably go down as one of the most frustrating of his career.
''If I had to put a guess on it, they hit good pitches,'' Keuchel said. ''Sometimes that's what happens. It's extremely frustrating on my end just because of the fact I was making quality pitches early, I still felt I was making quality pitches late.''
Houston has lost three of its last four after winning six straight.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Athletics: LHP Ryan Buchter was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a shoulder strain. Oakland recalled LHP Danny Coulombe from Triple A Nashville to take Buchter's spot on the roster. ... Oakland reinstated RHP Yusmeiro Petit from the bereavement list.
PETTIS' SON DRAFTED
Houston third base coach Gary Pettis' son, Dante, was selected as a wide receiver by the San Francisco 49ers in the second round of the NFL draft Friday night.
LOWRIE'S RECORD APRIL
Lowrie has 34 hits in April, which ties his franchise record for hits in a single April he set in 2013. Lowrie's 26 RBIs in April ranks tied for third in a single April with Dave Kingman, who did it in 1984, and is one behind Jason Giambi, who had 27 in 2000, and Reggie Jackson, who had 27 in 1974.
UP NEXT
Athletics: RHP Daniel Mengden (2-2) looks for his third straight win Saturday. He is 0-2 with a 6.33 ERA in four career starts against Houston.
Astros: RHP Lance McCullers (3-1) starts Saturday looking for his third straight win. McCullers allowed one run over six innings Sunday against the White Sox.
---
More AP baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball
