A's even series vs. Astros behind Sears' dominant day

OAKLAND -- JP Sears does not possess the prototypical stature of a “workhorse” pitcher at 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds. His performance last season, however, as the only A’s pitcher to make all 32 of his scheduled starts proved he’s more than capable of withstanding the grind of a full season.

Now standing as the only healthy member of Oakland’s Opening Day starting rotation after Ross Stripling landed on the injured list, Sears will again be counted on heavily to provide stability every fifth day.

His performance on Saturday showed he’s up for the task.

In a 3-1 win over the Astros at the Coliseum, Sears delivered a stellar outing, allowing just one unearned run on two hits and one walk with a strikeout in six innings. The left-hander efficiently stifled a potent Houston club that was undefeated in five previous games against the A’s this season with 28 runs scored, completing six frames on just 68 pitches (45 strikes) before handing it off to a rested back end of the bullpen.

“JP did a great job today,” said manager Mark Kotsay. “He set the tone. … It was really the start that we needed. He mixed everything in the zone, kept guys off balance and jammed some guys.”

Much like his solid outing of one run in five innings against the Astros last week at Minute Maid Park, Sears relied on his slider, which registers as a sweeper on Statcast. On Saturday, his 32 sliders accounted for nearly half of his total pitches.

The slider helped Sears get ahead early in counts as well as produce early outs. He retired the first batter in five of his six innings, and in the one he didn’t -- when he hit Jose Altuve in the first -- he induced a double play a batter later.

Though he’s entering just his second full season as a big leaguer, Sears has already seen plenty of the Astros; Saturday marked his sixth career game and fifth start against them. Those encounters have allowed him to closely study the tendencies of each hitter in the Astros' order and help formulate a plan of attack, which over these past two starts against them has featured a steady dose of sliders.

“I’ve done a lot of research as far as the type of lineup the Astros have,” Sears said. “They’re a pretty aggressive lineup. I saw that last night and have seen it throughout the season. I think it just gives them a little bit of a different look. They kind of have to honor the slider always, and it makes my fastball better when I want to use it.”

The Astros have certainly taken notice of Sears’ constant adjustments.

“His gameplan today was different than what we saw at home,” said Astros manager Joe Espada. “We hit a few balls hard. … He kept us off balance. We couldn’t really get our groove going and our timing down against him.”

Lowering his ERA to 3.88 through 11 starts, Sears is once again emerging as a dependable arm on pace to make another 30-plus starts in 2024. Given the depleted state of the rotation right now, the A’s could use every one of those from the 28-year-old lefty.

“He’s coming off a year where he made all 32 starts, and I know he’s determined to do that again,” Kotsay said. “That’s his mindset. … We’re going to continue to lean on him.”

Brent Rooker provided enough offense for Sears on his own with a two-run double off Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti in the first. It was a continuation of a hot month for Rooker, who is now hitting .349 (30-for-86) with 21 RBIs in May.

Coming off an uncharacteristic outing on Thursday in which he allowed five runs (three earned) to snap a career-high scoreless streak of 19 1/3 innings, Mason Miller bounced back with three strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth to notch his 10th save of the year. The flamethrowing closer was back to his usual dominance, firing off seven fastballs of at least 101 mph or harder and finishing the final frame on just 15 pitches.

“You can tell when he’s on,” Kotsay said of Miller. “It looks like it did today. The fastball to the outer edge off the plate on the corner. Slider off that in that lane. He elevated the fastball and got swing and miss. … It was a great day for Mason to get back out and show he wasn’t fazed by the results from Thursday.”