With 14 hits, eight runs, and an outstanding José Urquidy, the Astros pounded hard the Athletics to defeat them 8-3 in the series opener at Oakland. On Friday night, Urquidy worked eight innings for the first time in his career, every Astros hitter got at least a hit, and Alex Bregman and Martín Maldonado registered two home runs to round up a pretty good game for Houston.
Urquidy’s only mistake came in the second inning, when Elvis Andrus launched a two-run big fly to crack the scoreboard and put the A’s ahead 2-0. In fact, after Andrus’ homer, the Astros righty retired 11 straight hitters and didn’t allow a hit until a Sean Murphy double to kick off the seventh inning.