by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Houston Astros line up for their high five after sweeping the Oakland A’s at the Oakland Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon

OAKLAND–Last week, everyone was excited about the play of the A’s on the road as they won six out of seven and sent baseballs flying into the stratosphere. This week, the A’s have come back down to earth and are just an ordinary sub .500 baseball team as they lost their third straight game to the Houston Astros Wednesday afternoon 6-5. Each game was close but each time the guys from Houston came away with the win. With the victory, the Astros moved into a tie with the Detroit Tigers just one game behind the Baltimore Orioles for the second Wild Card slot. The Astros trail the Toronto Blue Jays by two games for the first spot.The Wild Card race tightened a bit as Toronto lost to Seattle and Boston beat the Orioles again.

The A’s one in the first to take a 1-0 lead.The Astros countered with one in the fifth and three in the top of the sixth to give them a 4-1 lead. Oakland got a run back in their half of the inning to trail by two 4-2. Houston scored another run in the seventh, and the A’s put two on the board in the bottom of the frame. Houston lead 5-4 and they increased the lead to two in the top of the eighth. The A’s scored an unearned run in the ninth, but the game ended when Astros’ catcher Jason Castro threw out Arismendy Alcantara at second base. Bob Melvin asked for a review, but the call was sustained, and Houston completed the sweep.

Game Notes – The hitting stars for Houston were Evan Gattis and Carlos Correa. Gattis slugged two dingers and hit the thirty homer mark for the year. Correa had two hits and one ribbie. Daniel Mengden started for the A’s and took the loss. His record for the year is now 2-8. Astros’ starter Collin McHugh won his fifth straight decision, and his record is now 12-10.

The A’s are off on Thursday. Play resumes Friday night at the Coliseum when the A’s and Rangers play the final three home games of the season. The A’s end the season next week with stops in Los Angeles and Seattle. Friday’s game with feature Kendall Graveman pitching for Oakland and the Rangers’ ace, lefty Cole Hamels, will go for Texas.