Butler looking to match A's greats when it comes to OPS

OAKLAND -- The A’s wasted no time erasing an early one-run deficit against the Astros on Wednesday afternoon, with Lawrence Butler and Miguel Andujar tying it up on a pair of doubles to lead off the bottom of the first inning.

Oakland’s offense entered the day red-hot, leading the Majors in runs (122), home runs (35), batting average (.282), on-base percentage (.353) and slugging percentage (.529) in the month of July. So those back-to-back doubles appeared to be the early makings of another high-scoring performance. Instead, it wound up the last time an A’s runner would cross home plate.

Andujar’s double was the final extra-base hit for Oakland, shut down by Houston starter Hunter Brown through six innings of one-run ball in an 8-1 loss at the Coliseum.

“Brown definitely settled in,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “This guy has been pretty good. He showed that. … He commanded the ball really well and really didn’t give us much of a chance. We had a couple of guys on in the sixth inning and he rolled over a double play.

“You tip your cap sometimes to a good pitching performance, which I think we ran into today.”

While their bid for a three-game sweep was denied, the A’s still secured a third consecutive series win, two of which have come against first-place clubs in the Phillies and Astros. Carrying a record of 11-7 in July, Oakland is two wins shy of clinching its first winning month since July 2022, something players inside the clubhouse have acknowledged as a goal.

“We want to get a winning month for [Kotsay],” Butler said. “He hasn’t had a winning month [in a while] since he’s been here, so we just want to go out and play for him.”

After nearly hitting for the cycle the night before, Butler reached base twice on Wednesday, but saw his streak of consecutive multihit games snapped at six, one short of becoming the third A’s player in the Wild Card era (since 1995) to reach seven straight such games.

Butler’s scorching month has him on pace to join some A’s royalty. Now hitting .413 (26-for-63) with eight home runs, five doubles, two triples and 24 RBIs through 18 games in July, Butler’s 1.408 OPS over that stretch gives him a shot at becoming just the third player in franchise history to post a 1.400 OPS (min. 50 plate appearances) in a month.

The only two players who have done it:

• Mark McGwire: June 1996 (1.428) and May 1993 (1.425)
• Jimmie Foxx: May 1932 (1.405)

“His at-bats have been really impressive,” A’s designated hitter Brent Rooker said of Butler. “The way he impacts the ball is as good as anybody. He hits the ball hard. He fouls pitches off to get deep into counts and swings at the right pitches. … He’s showing that he has the ability to be a game-changer and dynamic player in this league.”

The 24-year-old Butler is one of several young players providing the A’s hope for a brighter future beyond this current rebuild. Examples have been evident throughout this encouraging month, Wednesday’s loss notwithstanding.

“No question we’ve been playing some good ball and swinging the bats,” said starting pitcher JP Sears, who took the loss after allowing eight runs (seven earned) in six innings. “Today wasn’t our day, but I feel like the energy has been really up here in the clubhouse. A lot of us guys in here are looking to have a really good second half. I’m super excited about the second half."

Sears added: “I think that we can be a really competitive, over .500 team in the second half, and that’s going to be our goal. We’re just going to look and try to win every series.”

The A’s are slated to close out July with a four-game series starting on Thursday against the Angels, whom they took two of three from at the Coliseum over the weekend, followed by a two-game series across the Bay against the Giants (Tuesday-Wednesday).