In perhaps the most exciting game of this great series, the Oakland Athletics<\/a> fended off elimination by defeating the Houston Astros<\/a> 9-7. A game-tying home run was a part of Chad Pinder<\/a><\/strong>‘s<\/strong> three-hit, four-RBI day which led the A’s to victory.<\/p>\n The scoring started in the top of the first when Tommy La Stella<\/a><\/strong> went deep to give Oakland an early 1-0 lead. The lead was short-lived, as Jose Altuve<\/a><\/strong> would send a shot of his own into the seats. Michael Brantley<\/a><\/strong> and Alex Bregman<\/a><\/strong> followed the homer with back to back singles. Carlos Correa<\/a><\/strong> hit a ground ball and beat out the double play to bring in a run. It was a 2-1 Astros lead after one inning. The very next half-inning Mark Canha<\/a><\/strong> answered, blasting a game-tying home run. Matt Olson<\/a><\/strong> hit yet another solo blast in the fourth. In the fifth, Marcus Semien<\/a><\/strong> hit a fourth solo shot off Jose Urquidy<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> which gave the A’s a 4-2 lead. This long ball chased Urquidy from the game.<\/p>\n The Astros responded in a big way with a five-run fifth inning. Aledmys Diaz<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> who started at DH over Josh Reddick<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> hit a game-tying two-run shot. After George Springer<\/a><\/strong> was hit by a pitch and an Altuve infield single, Brantley singled in the go-ahead run. Bregman followed with a hard hit RBI double. The final run of the inning was driven in by Kyle Tucker<\/a><\/strong>,<\/strong> giving the Astros a 7-4 lead.<\/p>\n Pinder brought the A’s back when he hit a game-tying three-run home run in the seventh. The go-ahead run crossed the plate in the eighth when Sean Murphy<\/a><\/strong> hit a fly ball to right for a sac fly. Finally, Pinder added an insurance run on a sac fly. The Athletics brought in Liam Hendriks<\/a><\/strong>, who pitched three scoreless innings to close out the Astros.<\/p>\n The A’s will need another great offensive performance if they want to force a Game Five. The Athletics will turn to Frankie Montas<\/a><\/strong> (0-0 4.50). The Astros have not announced a starter for Game Four, but with Zack Greinke<\/a><\/strong> dealing with arm issues<\/a>, the likeliest option is Cristian Javier<\/a> <\/strong>(0-0 0.00).<\/strong> The rookie pitched one inning of relief in Game One.<\/p>\n Main ImageA Back And Forth Thriller<\/h3>\n
On To Game Four<\/h3>\n
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>