Mauricio Dubón’s homer in the ninth inning lifts Astros past A’s 3-2

MICHAEL WAGAMAN
Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Mauricio Dubón homered with two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and the Houston Astros held off the Oakland Athletics 3-2. Yainer Diaz had two hits including his 11th home run for the Astros, who have won four of five and remain 3 games behind the Rangers in the AL West. Jeremy Pena drew a one-out walk off Chad Smith but was caught trying to steal second base. Dubón, hitless with two strikeouts in his previous four at-bats, then powered a 1-2 slider to center for his fifth home run of the season. Hector Neris retired three batters and pitched out of a jam in the eighth with the go-ahead run on third. Bryan Abreu recorded the final three outs for his third save.