Spence Dragged Houston Back Above the Line

The Astros beat the Athletics 7-5 on September 24, and Lucas Spence gave Houston exactly the kind of answer it needed near the playoff line.

Spence opened the scoring in the second inning with a three-run homer, putting Houston ahead early. Oakland answered back in the third, tying the game on Jeff McNeil’s three-run homer before Zack Gelof gave the Athletics a 4-3 lead.

Houston did not stay behind for long. Isaac Paredes tied it with a solo homer in the sixth, then Spence hit his second home run in the seventh to put the Astros back in front. Christian Walker added another homer in the eighth, and after Gelof cut the lead to one with his second homer of the game, Spence answered again in the ninth.

Spence finished 3-for-4 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, and 3 runs.

What It Means

The Astros improve to 79-80. The Athletics fall to 63-96.

BaseChaser has Houston at 53.8% to make the playoffs. Oakland remains at 0.0%.

For Houston, this was not just a win. It pushed the Astros back above the playoff bubble line and flipped the AL West pressure back onto Texas.

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