A's rally from the brink to win game 3

*Photo from Yahoo! Sports*

Houston leads series 2-1

   When the Oakland Athletics needed it the most, Chad Pinder was there. Pinder hit the game tying homer, drove in 4 runs, and the A's beat the Houston Astros by a 9-7 score to keep their world series hopes alive, staving off elimination for another day. 

   Oakland got the scoring started, with Tommy La Stella hitting a solo homer in the first to make it 1-0. The Astros got the lead in the bottom of the first on a fielders choice from Carlos Correa and a solo homer from Jose Altvue, making it 2-1. In the second, Mark Canha tied the game with a solo homer. In the 4th, Matt Olson gave the A's a 3-2 lead with a solo homer to right field. In the 5th, Marcus Semien hit a solo homer to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the 5th, Aledmys Diaz hit a two run homer, Michael Brantley hit an RBI single, Alex Bregman hit an RBI double, and Kyle Tucker hit an RBI single, making it a 7-4 Astros lead. In the 7th, Pinder hit a 3 run homer to tie it up at 7. In the 8th, Sean Murphy and Pinder each hit sac flies to make it 9-7 A's.

   Ramon Laureano gave some intense words to the team entering the 7th inning. Pinder said that "Ramon got everything fired up, saying this wasn't it, we're not going to let it be our last game, we're gone through too much this season, it was awesome." 

   A's rookie Jesus Luzardo said that "There's never a doubt in this team, we can go ahead and win three in a row." Manager Bob Melvin said simply, "We live another day." Liam Hendriks said that "Once our backs are against the wall, suddenly everything changes, everybody has that bit of extra drive." 

   Hendriks got the win for Oakland, pitching the 7th, 8th, and 9th innings, all scoreless. He allowed just one hit, striking out 4. Luzardo got the start, throwing 4 innings. Luzardo allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and two walks, striking out two hitters. Yusmeiro Petit and Jake Diekman also pitched for the A's.

   Brooks Raley got the loss for the Astros, throwing two innings of relief. Raley allowed two runs on one hit and two walks, striking out two hitters. Jose Urquidy got the start for Houston, working 4 1/3 innings, allowing 4 runs on 5 hits and one walk, striking out 3 hitters. Blake Taylor, Josh James, and Andre Scrubb also pitched for the Astros.

   The series continues Thursday, where Oakland looks to force a do or die game 5, as Frankie Montas gets the start. The Astros will send Zack Greinke to the mound, looking to finish off the A's.