Dermis Garcia continues to make a case for why he should be a part of the Athletics' future plans.
The 24-year-old infielder gave the A's life in their 11-2 loss to the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park on Sunday afternoon.
"I think Dermis is continuing to show us his ability to hit the baseball and drive the baseball," A's manager Mark Kotsay said. "He's continuing to take good at-bats ... a lot of young hitters in this lineup that are making adjustments, he's making adjustments to them."
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In an afternoon where it seemed like the A's could not get any form of offense going, Garcia made the most of his opportunity with a two-run double in the sixth inning -- his fifth two-bagger of the year.
That would be all for the A's as Astros starter Framber Valdez sent down the next three hitters in order to end any threat. Overall, Valdez went six innings, giving up four hits, two runs, a walk, and struck out seven.
In doing so, Valdez made MLB history by recording his 25th-consecutive quality start.
"We had a chance to disrupt that streak in the sixth," Kotsay recalled. "[Alex] Bregman’s play on [Sean] Murphy’s ball easily could have been a double down the line and we’ve got three runs and a runner on second with nobody out.
Oakland Athletics
"But again, Framber goes out and limits damage in that sixth inning, walks off that mound, and sets a new record."
For Oakland, starter Ken Waldichuk did not have his best stuff as he gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings of work. In all, Waldichuck threw 52 pitches and gave up five hits, walked two, and struck out three in Sunday's outing.
"I thought the first two, really good, second inning especially had really good command and the changeup really good, second inning came out," Kotsay said. "Third inning lost command of that fastball arm side, trying to get it in the lane, down and away. Couldn’t locate it and then forced to use the breaking ball up in the zone and really, they took advantage of that."
What's more, Astros catcher Martin Maldonado had a day to remember, going 4-for-4 with four RBI, four runs scored and a home run. In total, the Astros tallied 11 hits against Oakland.
Despite finishing the season series 7-12 against the Astros, Kotsay said this was a great way to build momentum heading into the 2023 season.
"I think this team’s competed all year. We fight and we’ve shown that. We’re playing some good baseball teams right now that are going to be in the postseason, that you’re going to be able to watch play in October … It’s a test and we’re going to continue to grind," Kotsay concluded.
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The A's head home to take on the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PT. Lefty JP Sears (5-2, 3.90 ERA) will take the mound for Oakland while Luis Castillo (7-5, 2.68 ERA) will pitch for the Mariners.