Cam Smith belted two homers as part of his first career four-hit game and the Houston Astros had five long balls overall while rolling to a 13-3 victory over the Athletics on Tuesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Mauricio Dubon, Christian Walker and Cooper Hummel also went deep as Houston racked up 15 hits while winning for the sixth time in seven games. Dubon finished 3-for-3 with two walks, and Smith had three RBIs and scored three times.
Gio Urshela had two of the Athletics’ four hits. The A’s saw their season-best four-game winning streak come to an end.
Jason Alexander (1-0) was solid in his Houston debut, taking a shutout into the seventh inning in his first major league start since 2022.
Alexander was charged with three runs, three hits and three walks in six-plus innings. He struck out four against the Athletics, the team he was with earlier this season until Houston claimed him off waivers on May 18.
A’s starter JP Sears (5-6) allowed five runs and five hits over 3 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out none. Sears served up three homers — the same number he allowed when the Astros torched him for nine runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings on May 27.
Houston loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning before Jake Meyers stroked a two-run single to left off Sears.
Smith led off the second inning with a 415-foot blast to left-center to make it 3-0.
Smith opened the fourth with an even longer shot to left-center, this one traveling 431 feet. On the next pitch, Dubon lined a homer to left to make it 5-0.
Osvaldo Bido was on the mound in the fifth when Yainer Diaz led off with a single and Walker followed with a two-run homer to left-center. Isaac Paredes delivered a two-run single later in the inning to make it 9-0.
Dubon reached on an infield single against T.J. McFarland to start the seventh, and Hummel followed with a 431-foot shot to left-center to make it 11-0.
Alexander took a one-hit shutout into the seventh before Brent Rooker walked and Nick Kurtz doubled. Urshela hit an RBI single, and Austin Wynns reached on a throwing error by third baseman Paredes that allowed Kurtz to score.
Kaleb Ort replaced Alexander and induced Luis Urias to hit into a double play as the Athletics got their third run.
Smith produced an RBI double in Houston’s two-run eighth.
–Field Level Media
