“How the hell is Joe Espada still employed” - Astros fans frustrated after team's humiliating defeat against A's

Fans reacted as the Houston Astros lost 3-1 to the Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum on Saturday. The Astros lost the second game of their three-game series against the Athletics after winning the opener 6-3.

The Astros bats froze, going 4 for 30, only managing one run throughout the game. In the sixth inning, Mauricio Dubon reached second base due to a throwing error by Athletics shortstop Max Schuemann.

In the same inning, Dubon brought in a run for his team on Kyle Tucker's sacrifice fly. Houston Astros fans were steamed at the team's performance and pointing fingers at manager Joe Espada.

“Espada a worse manager than dusty wow,” a fan said.

“Espada is a terrible manager cant think of Any other manager in the league that would have bregman hitting on the clean up spot,” another fan said.

“How the hell is Joe Espada still employed let alone Dana Brown,” someone wrote.

Several fans called out the Astros offense, with many singling out Alex Bregman's performance at the plate and even calling for his replacement. Bregman went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts, holding a batting average of .204 and an OPS of .589.

“Astros need to fix the bregman problem and the RISP problem. Astros could leap frog over the rangers if astros would have won this game today. Let’s win this series tomorrow,” a user wrote.

“Please get someone else at 3rd base. We know Bregman is good and we pay him a lot, but right now he just ain't it,” another user wrote.

“What happened to the Astros offense today? The Astros offense and bullpen need to tighten this up in the next game,” a comment reads.

Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti pitched for five-plus innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks. Although he matched his career-high seven strikeouts, the 24-year-old was unable to extend his winning streak.

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Joe Espada acknowledges A’s pitcher JP Sears' effective pitching strategy to shut Astros offense

Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears pitched six solid innings, allowing only one run and two hits while striking out one. Discussing his impact on the Astros offense, manager Joe Espada said (via MLB.com):

“His gameplan today was different than what we saw at home. 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.”

The Houston Astros, with a record of 23-29, are third in the AL West and face the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.