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Oakland Athletics Do Something That's Never Been Done Before in Shutout Win vs. Houston Astros

Sure, the Oakland Athletics are bad this year, but they are still playing hard. Oakland shut out the Astros on Monday night and did something that's never been done in baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Oakland Athletics Do Something That's Never Been Done Before in Shutout Win vs. Houston Astros
Oakland Athletics Do Something That's Never Been Done Before in Shutout Win vs. Houston Astros /
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The Oakland Athletics shut out the Houston Astros 4-0 on Monday night, which is an incredibly surprising result considering that the A's are just 45-99 and the Astros are in first place in the American League West and likely headed for the playoffs yet again.

The A's did something that's never been done before in that win, further proving just how rare it all is.

Per @OptaSTATS on social media:

Tonight the @Athletics blanked the Astros 4-0 in Houston. It's the first time in MLB history a team 50+ games under .500 shut out the defending World Series champions on the road.

A's top pitching prospect Mason Miller started the game, throwing 2.0 scoreless innings as he works his way back from injury. Ken Waldichuk was the "bulk guy," and tossed 6.0 scoreless innings before giving way to closer Trevor May, who had the ninth.

The Astros are now 82-63 after the loss and lead the American League West by 2.0 games over the Texas Rangers. The A's staved off recording their 100th loss of the season for another day. The A's are one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals to avoid having the worst record in baseball. Kansas City is 44-100.

The A's and Astros will play again on Tuesday night in Houston. First pitch is set for 8:10 p.m. ET as J.P. Sears (OAK) pitches against Justin Verlander (HOU).

Sears 4-11 with a 4.51 ERA while the eventual Hall of Famer comes in at 11-7 with a 3.23 ERA.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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