AP Wire
Three Homeruns Propel A's Over Astros
By Kristie Rieken
Associated Press
April 7, 2013
HOUSTON (AP) -- Brett Anderson struck out 10 more Houston batters and the Oakland Athletics backed him with three home runs for a 9-3 win Sunday and a three-game sweep of the Astros.
Coco Crisp homered for the third straight day, Jed Lowrie again connected against his former team and Chris Young homered in his hometown. The A's sent Houston to its fifth straight loss.
The Astros, playing their first year in the American League, went 1-5 on their season-opening homestand against Texas and Oakland. They'll now start a nine-game road trip to the West Coast against division opponents.
Anderson (1-1) and the A's bullpen combined for 14 strikeouts. The Astros' 74 strikeouts through the first six games are the most in major league history since 1921, STATS said. The previous mark was held by Colorado, which fanned 65 times through the first six games of 2004.
Houston has reached double-digit strikeouts in five games. All but one starting pitcher the Astros have faced has either set or tied a career high for strikeouts against them.
Anderson tied a career high for strikeouts in only six innings. He allowed two unearned runs and five hits.
Oakland right fielder J.J. Reddick was injured when he ran into the wall chasing a foul ball in the fifth inning. He appeared to injure his right wrist when he fell trying to catch the fly by Marwin Gonzalez. Reddick left the game and there was no immediate word from the team on his injury.
Lowrie, traded from Houston to Oakland in February, homered for the second straight game. He had a two-run drive in the third and finished with three hits.
Lowrie has started the season with a six-game hitting streak, going 13 for 23 with three homers, four doubles and six RBIs in that span.
Crisp added a solo shot in the fourth, giving him home runs in three straight games for the first time since 2008. Crisp went 7 for 14 in the series, including the three homers and four doubles.
Young stretched the lead to 8-0 with a three-run homer in the fifth. He grew up in Houston and extended his hitting streak against the Astros to 11 games.
Young has had more success against Houston than any other team he's faced. He has four homers, five doubles and 16 RBIs during his current streak against the Astros, dating to Aug. 8, 2011.
Lucas Harrell (0-2) yielded seven hits and eight runs in 4 1-3 innings. It ended a streak of 31 straight starts in which he pitched five innings or more.
NOTES: The Astros begin a series at Seattle on Monday when RHP Philip Humber opposes LHP Joe Saunders. ... The A's are off Monday before opening a series against the Angels on Tuesday.
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