SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 04: Manager Mark Kotsay #7 of the Athletics takes the ball from pitcher Luis Morales #19 taking Morales during a pitching change against the Houston Astros in the top of the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park on April 04, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Athletics’ second home game of 2026 was exactly the opposite of its first game. After the A’s blew out the Houston Astros 11-4 in yesterday’s series-opener, the Astros responded with a blowout win of their own, taking advantage of porous A’s pitching and defense to win 11-0.

Playing in front of a crowd full of A’s fans clad in the team’s new Sacramento jerseys, the hosts looked to make it two wins in a row.

Yet, from the first pitch, it became apparent that today was not the A’s day.

A’s starting pitcher Luis Morales hoped to bounce back from a rough first start against the Toronto Blue Jays. That did not happen as he actually pitched worse this afternoon. The visitors scored two runs in the top of the first to seize the early lead. Astros starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai proceeded to get through his first inning unscathed. The inning ended on a double play combination with Imai striking out Tyler Soderstrom and catcher Christian Vázquez throwing out Nick Kurtz trying to steal second base.

Morales escaped a bases-loaded jam unscathed the next inning. Unfortunately, he was not as lucky in the third. Astros first baseman Christian Walker led off with a solo home run to left field. Later that inning, the A’s defense came back to bite them. Third baseman Max Muncy let a grounder off the bat of an Astros player get by him into left field for the second straight inning. Then, left fielder Soderstrom lost a fly ball in the sun; the baseball found grass for an RBI double rather than his mitt for the third out. Both looked like errors but were ruled base hits.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay finally removed Morales after he walked the first batter of the fourth inning. He allowed five runs on eight hits and walked six while recording zero strikeouts, an outing that should earn Morales a demotion to the bullpen or Triple-A Las Vegas to work on throwing strikes and limiting hard contact.

The A’s relievers who succeeded Morales did not fare much better. Right-hander Elvis Alvarado, who replaced Morales in the fourth inning, allowed the Astros to score three more runs that frame. He pitched a scoreless second inning before left-hander Hogan Harris gave up three runs on four hits in the sixth inning.

Looking at the A’s team pitching stats, one would think that this was a Cactus League or minor league game. A’s pitchers allowed 11 runs, 18 hits and 13 walks, the latter the most since they walked 17 batters in a 2023 game against the New York Mets. Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez drew walks his first four plate appearances. The Astros finished seven-for-22 with runners in scoring position, left 17 runners on base and would have scored more had they not grounded into four double plays.

While the Astros enjoyed endless base runners and scoring chances, the Athletics offense went silent, a stark contrast to what happened last night. Imai showcased the ability that made him a multi-time All-Star in Japan, recording nine strikeouts in 5 2/3 scoreless innings.

The A’s ended the game with the same number of strikeouts on offense as walks allowed by their pitchers. Muncy had two of the A’s five hits, all of them singles. The A’s had limited scoring opportunities. Looking for an immediate answer after going down four, the team had two on with two out in the bottom of the third inning, but Imai struck out catcher Shea Langeliers to end that threat. In the sixth inning, Astros reliever Kai-Wei Teng got A’s shortstop Jacob Wilson to ground out to end the inning and strand two runners in scoring position.

Now that each team has blown out the other, tomorrow afternoon’s Easter Sunday contest will be the rubber-game with the victor winning the weekend series between these two division rivals. Left-hander Jacob Lopez will toe the rubber for the A’s, looking to pitch a bit more efficiently and further into the game in his second start of the season. He will be opposed by longtime Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr, who pitched seven innings of one-run ball in his first start of the season.

It should be a good matchup tomorrow. Hopefully the Athletics can emerge victorious to win their first series of the season!