A's hope young arms follow Astros' near no-no blueprint

HOUSTON -- When Easton Lucas watched the Astros work eight no-hit innings before turning it over to Ryan Pressly in the ninth, the A’s reliever was reminded of his own combined no-hit effort in May.

Lucas, pitching for Double-A Bowie at the time, struck out the side in the ninth to seal the no-no -- the first time he was part of a no-hitter since he threw three as a starter in high school.

Thanks to Ryan Noda's ninth-inning single, however, Pressly wasn’t able to seal the no-hitter on Wednesday night in the A's 6-2 loss to the Astros at Minute Maid Park. Oakland escaped being no-hit for the second time this season (Domingo Germán's perfect game on June 29), then battled to put up a pair of runs in the ninth.

“You're doing everything you can do to avoid it,” said Seth Brown, who followed Noda's hit with an RBI single. “I've faced Pressly a lot, so I was giving [Noda] as much info as I could on him and [told him] just go in there and have a good at-bat. That's what Noda does. He puts up a good one and sends one through the hole there, and gets that monkey off our back."

After a three-inning start from Paul Blackburn, Lucas and a host of other young relievers were tasked with holding down Houston. For the A’s, who hit the 100-loss mark, learning what the club has in its new bullpen arms is a key priority over the final weeks of the season.

After all, take a look at the American League West. Houston won the 2022 World Series behind the best bullpen in postseason history. Seattle holds the Majors' third-best bullpen ERA even after trading away its closer at the Trade Deadline. And Texas’ inability to develop homegrown relievers has contributed to its recent skid.

Here’s a look at some of Oakland’s newest relievers who could become contributors on the next contending A’s team:

LHP Easton Lucas
Lucas, who was acquired from the Orioles in a July 19 trade for Shintaro Fujinami, made his Major League debut on Friday.

“His first outing, he said he couldn’t feel his legs when he was out there pitching,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said earlier this week. “His last outing was better. I think there’s continued improvement for Easton, and I’m glad that we have him here.”

For Lucas' third big league outing, Kotsay sent him to face the heart of the Astros’ lineup: Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. Lucas showed off his stuff by striking out a spinning Alvarez before allowing a solo shot to Tucker on a hanging slider.

“Besides that one pitch, I thought I was throwing pitches to good spots and had command on good pitches,” Lucas said. “I had a lot of fun until that one, but I’ll take it because I can obviously learn from that and move on.”

RHP Devin Sweet
Sweet, who was claimed off waivers from the Mariners on Sept. 2, recorded his first career win in his A’s debut on Friday.

He features a "Bugs Bunny-like" changeup with tons of movement, and the right-hander worked around a bunt single and a walk by striking out Alvarez with his changeup to end the fourth inning.

“Sweet did a great job managing that inning,” Kotsay said. “To face those guys, for those two young players to get their feet wet a little bit against this lineup that they may see in the future, I thought it was a good opportunity.”

RHP Lucas Erceg, RHP Dany Jiménez
In comparison to Sweet and Lucas, Erceg and Jiménez are grizzled vets.

Erceg, who made his big league debut on May 19 at Minute Maid Park, struggled to find consistency for much of his first three months in the Majors. Since Aug. 24, however, the rookie has found a groove, allowing only one run and four hits over his past nine outings (10 2/3 innings).

In his return to Houston on Tuesday, the former third baseman -- and converted pitcher -- showed off his strong stuff (98.4 mph four-seam fastball, 98.2 mph sinker) by striking out two batters in a scoreless frame.

Jiménez followed with his own scoreless inning, continuing his impressive run since returning from his stint on the IL with a strained right shoulder. He's allowed just one run and one hit over nine innings since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 20.

Jiménez (29 years old), Erceg (28), Sweet (27) and Lucas (26) aren’t young by prospect standards. But their combined years of team control and improvement down the stretch could prove big for Oakland.