After Houston fell into a quick one-run hole Thomas Davis Jersey , Evan Gattis appreciated how the Astros came right back swinging.
Fences-clearing swings.
”It’s like let `em know we’re here, you know?” he said.
Gattis hit a three-run homer and drove in five runs, Carlos Correa returned from a four-game absence and homered on the first pitch he saw, and the Astros beat the Oakland Athletics 6-3 on Tuesday night for their sixth straight win.
Gattis has seven homers and 20 RBIs over his last 14 games.
”It’s been good for the last month,” he said. ”It’s easy to lose sight of that when you have a couple games where it’s like 1 for 8 or 9 or something like that the last couple games in Texas. It’s good to kind of sustain it a little bit.”
Lance McCullers Jr. (8-3) struck out five over seven strong innings, allowing two runs and five hits while winning a second straight decision. He surrendered Stephen Piscotty’s sacrifice fly in the second and then kept Oakland’s powerful order in check.
Correa was back in the lineup at shortstop after missing a series sweep at Texas with soreness in his right side after leaving last Wednesday’s game against the Mariners following an at-bat in the seventh inning.
Oakland scored on a wild pitch in the first before the Astros answered against Daniel Mengden (6-6). Correa homered leading off the second. Gattis hit his 11th homer three batters later, and then chased Mengden with a two-run double with two outs in the fifth.
”He’s obviously seeing the ball and he’s putting the barrel on it and coming up with huge hits Trai Turner Jersey , a lot of them doing damage,” manager A.J. Hinch said.
Matt Chapman hit three doubles before being hit by a pitch in the left hand in the eighth by Collin McHugh. X-rays were negative. Chapman’s three doubles matched the Oakland single-game record, done for the 28th time and first since Matt Joyce last Sept. 27.
”He’s using the whole field, seeing the ball early. Earlier in the season he was similar to this but right now I think he’s seeing the ball as well as he has all year,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. ”You’re seeing that the last few games.”
Ken Giles finished for his 11th save in 11 tries as the World Series champions moved to 6-1 so far this season against the A’s.
Both teams left the bases loaded in the fourth.
Mengden was charged with six runs and eight hits.
BIG-TIME PARADE
The A’s had some fun with the NBA Golden State Warriors’ victory parade through downtown Oakland on Tuesday.
”We’re back after a day off and Oakland even had a parade to celebrate us returning,” the A’s posted on Twitter.
SPECIAL NOD
Hinch is making a special addition to his All-Star coaching staff for next month’s game in Washington: Retired Astros first base coach Rich Dauer will be in uniform and assisting Hinch.
”Just like old times,” Hinch said.
Last November Sam Mills Jersey , Dauer was rushed to a hospital immediately after Houston’s victory parade to celebrate its first World Series title. He survived a difficult surgery on a blood clot in his brain.
Dauer played for the Baltimore Orioles from 1976-85, winning a World Series in 1983. Dauer was hired by the Astros after the 2014 season.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: There’s no structural issue with RHP Joe Smith’s sore elbow that put him on the disabled list last week. Smith saw a couple of different doctors and for now it’s just going to take time to let the inflammation calm down, Hinch said.
Athletics: The A’s plan to make a decision as soon as Wednesday on whether RHP Trevor Cahill will need a stint on the DL, which seems likely given his Achilles injury is not improving. Melvin expects RHP Chris Bassitt would return from Triple-A Nashville to replace Cahill in the rotation. ”If we do this, he deserves another chance,” Melvin said. … LHP Brett Anderson is scheduled for his first bullpen session Wednesday as he works back from a strained shoulder that landed him on the DL on May 19.
UP NEXT
Astros: RHP Gerrit Cole (7-1, 2.16 ERA) totaled 21 strikeouts to just four earned runs allowed in his first two starts against the A’s this season.
Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (1-0 Kawann Short Jersey , 1.50 ERA) makes his second start since coming off the 60-day DL after he was sidelined with a strained forearm.
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The Oakland Raiders never really recovered from the decision to trade Jon Gruden to Tampa Bay 16 years ago.
There was a Super Bowl trip the following season when Oakland lost to Gruden’s Buccaneers and another playoff appearance in 2016 under Jack Del Rio that garnered little optimism because quarterback Derek Carr was injured.
But there has been mostly a run of losing seasons under nine coaches as only the Cleveland Browns had lost more games during Gruden’s 16-year absence than the Raiders.
Owner Mark Davis hopes that will all change now that he has finally lured Gruden back for a second stint as the team’s coach.
A person with knowledge of the team’s plans said the Raiders are planning a news conference Tuesday to announce that Gruden is leaving the broadcast booth to come back to coaching. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Friday because the team has made no formal announcement.
The Raiders fired Del Rio following a disappointing six-win season and talk immediately turned to Gruden, who has been out of coaching since being fired by Tampa Bay following the 2008 season. Gruden has spent the past nine years as the lead analyst for ESPN’s ”Monday Night Football” telecast. He is scheduled to work his final game Saturday in Kansas City when the Chiefs take on the Tennessee Titans in a playoff game.
Then after that he will head to Oakland with the task of resurrecting Carr after a down year and getting the Raiders back to the postseason.
Oakland won 12 games in 2016 to earn Del Rio a four-year extension but the team fell flat this season. The offense regressed after the decision to fire coordinator Bill Musgrave and replace him with untested Todd Downing. The defense struggled mightily before a late-season switch from fired coordinator Ken Norton Jr. to play-caller John Pagano.
That led to the decision to fire Del Rio following his third season and go hard after Gruden.
ESPN reported that Gruden will receive a 10-year deal that could be worth close to $100 million. Gruden has already started putting together a staff with Cincinnati defensive coordinator Paul Guenther among those expected to join.
Gruden told ESPN earlier this week that he had a good talk with Davis about returning to the organization and believed there was a ”good chance” it would happen.
Gruden spent four seasons as coach in Oakland from 1998-2001. After leading the Raiders to 8-8 records his first two years, Gruden helped the team reach the AFC title game following the 2000 season and got Oakland back into the playoffs the following season.
His tenure ended shortly after the ”Tuck Rule” loss to the New England Patriots when he was traded the following month to Tampa Bay for two first-round draft picks, two second-rounders and $8 million.
Gruden beat the Raiders in the Super Bowl in his first season with the Buccaneers but didn’t win another playoff game for Tampa Bay in his final six seasons. He has a 95-81 career record.
Gruden’s younger brother, Jay, is headed into his fifth season as coach in Washington. Jay was an assistant on Jon’s staffs in Tampa Bay and now the brothers will be competing against each other. Washington and Oakland are not scheduled to play again until 2021. This is not the first time two brothers have been head coaches in the NFL simultaneously. Jim and John Harbaugh were active for four seasons from 2011-14 in San Francisco and Baltimore, respectively. John’s Ravens beat Jim’s 49ers in the Super Bowl following the 2012 season
The Raiders have complied with the ”Rooney Rule” and interviewed minority candidates for the job Mario Addison Jersey , according to NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart. ”I can tell you we believe the Rooney Rule was complied with,” Lockhart said. ”Minority candidates were interviewed and we will wait and see the decision they make.”
A second person with knowledge of the team’s plans said one of the minority candidates who interviewed was tight ends coach Bobby Johnson. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Raiders were not releasing the names of candidates.
This would not mark the first time the Raiders brought back a coach for a second stint. Late owner Al Davis hired Art Shell in 2006, 11 years after firing him the first time. Shell went 2-14 that season and was fired after one year.
Other teams have also done it, with one of the most recent notable coaching hires being Joe Gibbs in Washington. Gibbs stepped away following the 1992 season with three Super Bowl titles in his career. He came back in 2004 and had a 30-34 record in four seasons, leading Washington to two playoff berths.
The timing of the news conference was first reported by the Raiders Snake Pit website.
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AP Pro Football Writer Schuyler Dixon contributed to this report
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