(SportsNetwork.com) – Scott Kazmir and Scott Feldman both dazzled in their
season debuts, but only one hurler came away with a victory.
It will be Kazmir who tries to secure his second win of the season on Monday
night when the Oakland Athletics begin a three-game set with Feldman and the
Houston Astros.
A 15-game winner in 2014, Kazmir began his season with a 10-0 win over the
Texas Rangers on Wednesday. The veteran left-hander logged seven scoreless
innings of work, scattering a hit and two walks while striking out 10.
Kazmir is now 5-0 with a 1.79 earned run average in April over his last two
seasons. He is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in seven career meetings with the Astros.
The right-handed Feldman counters riding a career high of eight straight
quality starts dating back to Aug. 20. He has a 1.87 ERA over that span, but
picked up a tough-luck loss to begin his season last Wednesday.
Feldman faced the Cleveland Indians and was on the wrong end of a 2-0
decision, yielding five hits over 6 2/3 innings. However, one hit he allowed
was a second-inning solo homer.
The 32-year-old Feldman is 5-8 lifetime versus Oakland with a 5.55 ERA in 26
games (17 starts).
Oakland begins a 10-game road trip tonight after going 3-4 at home to open the
season. The A’s lost their final two meetings with the Seattle Mariners over
the weekend, both in extra innings.
The Athletics did rally for four runs in the bottom of the ninth inning of
Sunday’s finale to force bonus baseball, but the Mariners got the winning run
in the 10th inning on Nelson Cruz’s solo homer for an 8-7 decision.
Sam Fuld had a two-run double in the ninth frame and scored on Billy Butler’s
double play, while Eric Sogard tied the contest with a run-scoring single.
“I wish we could take a lot of things back, but this team clawed and fought
back,” said Stephen Vogt, who had an RBI triple in the loss. “If the last two
days showed us anything, it’s that this team won’t get down.”
The Astros took two of three from the Texas Rangers over the weekend to even
their season record at 3-3. They won in 14 innings on Sunday, with Hank
Conger’s two-run homer giving the club a 6-4 victory.
Conger’s heroics were made possible by outfielder George Springer, who robbed
Texas’ Leonys Martin of a potential walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning.
“You want to win the series,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “It’s going to
be a happy flight home. We had to earn it.”
Jake Marisnick hit a two-run homer, Luis Valbuena added a solo shot and Marwin
Gonzalez also drove in a run for the Astros.
New Houston designated hitter Evan Gattis saw his season-opening struggles
continue. He went hitless in five at-bats on Sunday with a walk and three
strikeouts, and is 0-for-20 on the season.
The A’s were 11-8 versus the Astros last season, splitting 10 games in
Houston.
