Houston Astros at Athletics
· Major League Baseball
7 - 5
Spence hits first 3 homers of career, helps Astros survive Athletics 7-5 to keep playoff hopes alive
Houston (79-80) remains tied with the Texas Rangers for the AL West lead with three games left in the regular season for both teams. The Astros have the tiebreaker with a 9-4 record against Texas this year.
Spence hit his second home run of the game in the seventh inning 387 feet to give Houston a 5-4 lead.
Walker followed with his 27th the season in the eighth before Spence capped the scoring with his third of the game in the ninth. Spence, who was called up by the Astros on Wednesday, had just 40 major league at-bats prior to the game.
Spence's three-run shot opened the scoring in the second inning and marked the first major league homer of his career. Paredes tacked on a game-tying solo shot in the sixth, his 24th of the season.
Astros' rookie Miguel Ullola (2-0) worked three scoreless innings of relief after starter Peter Lambert gave up four runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings. Bryan Abreu allowed one hit through the final 1 1/3 frames for his ninth save.
The Athletics' Jeff McNeil hit a three-run homer in the third to tie the game and Zack Gelof added a solo shot to give the Athletics a 4-3 lead in the next at-bat. Gelof's second home run of the game in the eighth pulled the Athletics within a run.
Scott Blewett (2-2) surrendered the go-ahead run in the seventh after Athletics' starter Mason Barnett pitched a career-high six innings, giving up four runs on four hits.
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Scoring Summary
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9th Inning | Langeliers grounded into double play, shortstop to second to first, Butler out at second. |
|
9th Inning | Butler singled to center. |
|
9th Inning | Bolte lined out to right. |
 |
9th Inning | Barrosa in left field. |
|
9th Inning | Paredes flied out to left. |
|
9th Inning | Alvarez popped out to third. |
Statistics
 HOU |
 ATH |
|
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Games Played | 1 |
| 1 | Team Games Played | 1 |
| 0 | Hit By Pitch | 0 |
| 3 | Ground Balls | 10 |
| 10 | Strikeouts | 14 |
| 7 | Runs Batted In | 5 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Hit | 0 |
| 10 | Hits | 11 |
| 1 | Stolen Bases | 0 |
| 2 | Walks | 3 |
| 0 | Catcher Interference | 0 |
| 7 | Runs | 5 |
| 0 | Ground Into Double Play | 2 |
| 0 | Sacrifice Flies | 0 |
| 37 | At Bats | 36 |
| 5 | Home Runs | 3 |
| 0 | Grand Slam Home Runs | 0 |
| 9 | Runners Left On Base | 16 |
| 0 | Triples | 0 |
| 1 | Game Winning RBIs | 0 |
| 0 | Intentional Walks | 0 |
| 0 | Doubles | 3 |
| 24 | Fly Balls | 12 |
| 0 | Caught Stealing | 0 |
| 139 | Pitches | 147 |
| 0 | Games Started | 0 |
| 0 | Pinch At Bats | 2 |
| 0 | Pinch Hits | 1 |
| 0.0 | Player Rating | 0.0 |
| 1 | Is Qualified | 1 |
| 1 | Is Qualified In Steals | 0 |
| 25 | Total Bases | 23 |
| 39 | Plate Appearances | 39 |
| 810.0 | Projected Home Runs | 486.0 |
| 5 | Extra Base Hits | 6 |
| 7.9 | Runs Created | 7.1 |
| .270 | Batting Average | .306 |
| .000 | Pinch Hit Average | .500 |
| .676 | Slugging Percentage | .639 |
| .486 | Secondary Average | .417 |
| .308 | On Base Percentage | .359 |
| .983 | OBP Pct + SLG Pct | .998 |
| 0.1 | Ground To Fly Ball Ratio | 0.8 |
| 7.9 | Runs Created Per 27 Outs | 7.1 |
| 54.0 | Batter Rating | 46.0 |
| 7.4 | At Bats Per Home Run | 12.0 |
| 1.00 | Stolen Base Percentage | 0.00 |
| 3.56 | Pitches Per Plate Appearance | 3.77 |
| .405 | Isolated Power | .333 |
| 0.20 | Walk To Strikeout Ratio | 0.21 |
| .051 | Walks Per Plate Appearance | .077 |
| .216 | Secondary Average Minus Batting Average | .111 |
| 14.0 | Runs Produced | 10.0 |
| 1.0 | Runs Ratio | 1.0 |
| 0.7 | Patience Ratio | 0.7 |
| 0.2 | Balls In Play Average | 0.4 |
| 99.5 | MLB Rating | 94.0 |
| 0.0 | Offensive Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
| 0.0 | Wins Above Replacement | 0.0 |
Game Information
Location: Sacramento, California
Attendance: 9,367 | Capacity:
2026 American League West Standings
| TEAM | W | L | PCT | GB | STRK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Houston |
- | 81 | W2 | 0.5 | 81 |
 Texas |
1 | 82 | L1 | 0.49382716 | 80 |
 Seattle |
5 | 86 | W2 | 0.4691358 | 76 |
| Athletics |
17 | 98 | L2 | 0.39506173 | 64 |
 Los Angeles |
19 | 100 | L2 | 0.38271606 | 62 |