WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Christian Walker homered, doubled and drove in two runs as the Houston Astros routed the Athletics 11-0 on Saturday.
Walker finished 3 for 5 with three runs scored, while Joey Loperfido, Yainer Diaz and Christian Vázquez each added three hits as Houston matched a season high with 11 runs.
Tatsuya Imai (1-0) struck out nine over 5 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing three hits and three walks for Houston.
The Astros struck first in the opening inning. Jeremy Peña doubled and scored when José Altuve lined an RBI single to center. Walker followed later in the inning with an RBI single that brought home Yordan Alvarez for a 2-0 lead.
Walker extended the advantage in the third with a solo homer to left-center, his first of the season. The Astros added another run later in the inning when Vázquez doubled to left field, scoring Jake Meyers to make it 4-0.
Joey Loperfido hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line that scored Carlos Correa, and Diaz had a two-RBI single to stretch the Astros lead to 7-0 in the fourth.
Peña opened the fifth inning with a line drive up the middle for the 600th hit of his career.
Loperfido added an RBI single in the sixth before Vázquez delivered his second RBI double of the game. Alvarez later singled home another run as Houston scored three times in the inning to make it 10-0.
Cam Smith capped the scoring with a solo homer to left-center in the eighth.
Oakland managed five hits and went 0 for 2 with runners in scoring position. Luis Morales (0-2) surrendered five runs, eight hits, and six walks in the loss.
RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 1.29 ERA) gets the start for the Astros, while LHP Jacob Lopez (0-1, 6.75 ERA) takes the mound for the Athletics in the final game of the series.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Woodside Musical Theatre proudly presents Jesus Christ Superstar in Concert — the company’s … Read moreJESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR in Concert
“Side-splittingly funny and brilliantly chaotic” Read moreThe Play That Goes Wrong
John Baker said:
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.