OAKLAND — There are some starts where Sonny Gray would take a bad first inning and chalk it up as a mulligan, content to move on with the belief that things will be better next time out.
After Tuesday night’s outing, he wasn’t letting himself off the hook so easily. Fielding questions from reporters about a five-run first that doomed the A’s in an 8-4 loss to Houston, Gray clearly was bothered by his inability to shut off the Astros’ rally at just one run after he coaxed a double play from Carlos Correa. Brian McCann, Yuli Gurriel and Alex Bregman followed with run-scoring hits as Gray allowed the most runs by an Oakland pitcher in the first inning this season.