SteemSports Presenter:
SteemSports Editor:
Gerrit Cole continued his absolute domination of the American League on Wednesday afternoon, limiting the Athletics to just one run on four hits over his six innings of work.
With the victory, Cole improved to 4-1 on the season. He owns a jaw-dropping 1.43 ERA and 0.74 WHIP across 56 ⅔ innings in his first eight starts on the season. He has also struck out a league-leading 86 batters. To put that into perspective, that’s 16 more strikeouts than the next closest hurler in the American League, teammate Justin Verlander. It’s also six more than Nationals’ ace Max Scherzer.
Cole, considered more of a second-tier starting pitcher in fantasy drafts this spring, has been the best pitcher on the planet through the first six weeks of the regular season. His success is a big reason why the Astros are sitting on top of the American League West.
With Cole doing work on the mound for the Astros, it was the bottom of their lineup that provided the necessary thump in this one. Staring at a 1-0 deficit in the seventh inning Max Stassi clubbed his third home run of the season off of A’s starter Daniel Mengden to even the score. Derek Fisher followed with a solo blast of his own, his fourth, to put the Astros ahead to stay.
Jose Altuve went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the victory and also stole a base. It was just his second swipe in three attempts on the season.
For the Athletics, Daniel Mengden pitched well in a losing effort, allowing just two runs on six hits across his 6 ⅔ innings. Mengden punched out four on the afternoon and didn’t walk a batter.
The Astros (24-15) will now head home to host a three-game series against the Rangers while the Athletics (18-19) will begin a 10-game East Coast road trip starting with three in New York against the Yankees.
