Houston Astros send Cristan Javier to hill in rubber game vs. Athletics

The Astros' 4-3 loss to the Athletics on Saturday pivoted in the top of the eighth inning when reliever Bennett Sousa surrendered three runs immediately after the Astros' two-run seventh.

Sousa retired only one batter and allowed two hits and one walk. He followed right-hander AJ Blubaugh out of the bullpen. Blubaugh worked 1 1/3 spotless innings of relief with two strikeouts.

Blubaugh leads the majors with 79 1/3 innings in relief and is on track to become the first Houston reliever to lead MLB in innings pitched since Doug Jones logged 111 2/3 innings in relief in 1992.

His value led Astros manager Joe Espada to make the change.

"The thing about Blu is every time I use him for multiple innings, I don't have him available (the following game)," Espada said. "He's valuable. I'm using our relievers a lot, so having him potentially available (Sunday), I need some of that since some of my guys were not available."

Right-hander Cristian Javier (1-4, 6.44 ERA) is scheduled to start the series rubber match for the host Astros on Sunday afternoon. He allowed two runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts over four innings in a 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Angels last Tuesday, his third straight defeat. Javier is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA in three starts this month.

Javier is 4-6 with a 4.63 ERA across 16 career appearances (13 starts) against the Athletics. He allowed six runs on six hits and five walks with two strikeouts over 3 2/3 innings in an 11-4 loss to the Athletics on April 3.

Left-hander Brady Basso (0-0, 3.91 ERA) will start for the Athletics on Sunday. He will likely serve as the opener; right-hander Jack Perkins is probable to work as the bulk pitcher. Basso made his second start of the season against the Kansas City Royals last Tuesday, logging 2 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing two hits and striking out one batter in the Athletics' 4-3 loss.

Basso, a Houston-area native, allowed two runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout over one inning in his lone appearance against the Astros on Sept. 25, 2025, an 11-5 loss.

With several young pitchers working high-leverage situations down the stretch for the last-place Athletics, manager Mark Kotsay is angling to put his pitchers in the best positions to thrive. Left-handed reliever Drew Rom met a daunting challenge against Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez in the latter stages on Friday, and Kotsay elected to let Rom face Alvarez.

Rom surrendered an RBI double to Alvarez, extending the Astros' lead to four runs in the seventh.

"You're just trying to make the very best decision possible for the players that are in those situations to have success," Kotsay said. "For the team's success, you're trying to make decisions that align with the best outcome. And they don't always align.

"You get praise in this seat when they do; people think you're great. And you get the negative hate when they don't work out. There's really no win-win situation because the players have to go perform, and the decisions don't always align with that performance."

--Field Level Media