Ex-A’s pitcher, a NorCal native, gets ‘revenge’ against old team in Sacramento
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- Jason Alexander secured first MLB win since 2022, beating former his team, the A's
- Houston Astros ended A's four-game streak with 13-3 blowout in West Sacramento
- A's fell to 30-45 on the season with a 13-24 record at Sutter Health Park
Jason Alexander was beaming with his toddler son, Kai, in his arms while he did his postgame interview Tuesday night at his locker in the visiting clubhouse at Sutter Health Park.
Kai was holding the game ball from Alexander’s first win since June 23, 2022, while his dad fielded questions from reporters about his win in a spot start for the Astros against the A’s, the team that released him earlier this season.
“Kai gets to keep the game ball,” Alexander said with a laugh after Houston thumped the A’s, 13-3, while Alexander allowed three runs on three hits over six-plus innings. He took a shutout into the seventh before being lifted with no outs in that inning. Houston’s victory snapped the A’s four-game winning streak.
Alexander’s young son was maybe a month or two old the last time he was credited with a win in a Major League game, he said. That came as a member of the Milwaukee Brewers.
“I hope that this guy will remember what it’s like to be in a big league clubhouse,” he said. “Glad to get the win and the team was incredible today. They made it very easy for me to come in and just be part of the team.”
On Tuesday, Alexander said he had eight or nine family member in attendance at Sutter Health Park, including his parents Richard and Maryanne, who made the trek from his hometown of Windsor, roughly 70 miles west of Sacramento. He attended Cardinal Newman High School in Santa Rosa and later pitched at Santa Rosa Junior College, which boasts one of the best programs in the state.
His path to the Majors wasn’t easy. After junior college, he transferred to Long Beach State, where he suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. It led to him transferring to a third school, Menlo College, going from one of the best Division I programs in the country to NAIA. And even after getting an All-American honorable mention, he went undrafted in 2017 without any more college eligibility.
Fortunately for Alexander, he signed with the Los Angeles Angels after the draft and after pondering a switch to coaching. He bounced to the Miami Marlins in 2021 before signing with the Brewers, where he reached the majors, and then pitched in the minors for the Boston Red Sox in 2024 before signing with the A’s last offseason.
“We need some innings out of him, and he knew exactly what he needed to do, and he executed,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “That’s a tough lineup to navigate, especially when you just came up here last minute. ... He came up here and delivered exactly what we needed.”
The 32-year-old was the 11th Astros pitcher to start a game this season while the team had been dealing with a slew of injuries. It was his first start in the majors since 2022. He was called up from Triple-A and inserted into the rotation because Lance McCullers Jr. suffered a foot injury that landed him on the injured list earlier Tuesday.
Alexander was claimed off waivers after the A’s designated him for assignment on May 16. The A’s let him go after posting an 18.00 ERA over four appearances, with the final straw coming May 15 against the Los Angeles Dodgers when he yielded nine runs in 2 1/3 innings. Tuesday night’s win was his first MLB game since then.
“I think when I started the season with the A’s, it was planned because I wanted to be on the West Coast, close to home,” Alexander said. “I’m very happy with the Astros giving me this opportunity, and it’s awesome to get the revenge game out there.”
A’s streak ends, thumped by Astros
The A’s came in having won four straight and seven of 11 games following the stretch in which they dropped 20 of 21. They fell to 30-45 on the season and 13-24 at Sutter Health Park. They are in last place in the American League West; the Astros improved to 42-31 and strengthened their first-place footing in the division.
The announced attendance of 8,315 on Tuesday was the smallest of the season for the A’s in West Sacramento.
A’s starter JP Sears struggled with his control out of the gate, walking three batters in the first inning, including two that scored. Cam Smith hit his fourth homer of the season leading off the second inning to make it 3-0. Smith hit his second homer leading off the fourth, and Mauricio Dubón added his second home run of the season on the very next pitch. Dubón played high school ball for Capital Christian in Sacramento.
Christian Walker added a two-run blast as part of a four-run fifth when Houston made it 9-0. Sears was tagged for five earned runs over 3 1/3 innings, while Osvaldo Bido allowed four more over 1 2/3 innings. The A’s finished the game with backup catcher Willie MacIver pitching knuckle balls, none of which registered faster than 42 mph on the radar gun.
The two teams have two more games left in the series. Luis Severino (2-6, 4.47 ERA) will pitch for the A’s Wednesday against Framber Valdez (7-4, 3.10). Thursday’s starters are Jacob Lopez (1-4, 4.80) for the A’s and Colton Gordon (2-1, 4.70) for Houston.
