By Morris Phillips

OAKLAND — First, the Oakland A’s smashed a team-record eight doubles on Saturday to cap a 53-game run to a share of the AL West lead. Then the world champion Houston Astros responded on Sunday with five home runs to reclaim the division lead to themselves.

And what can we conclude from this series of events? Life at the top of the AL West–baseball’s toughest division–isn’t for the faint of heart. That, and look for something truly special to take place over the final 38 games of the season as the three playoff hopefuls in the West chase two playoff spots.

“These guys are no fluke whatsoever,” said Sunday’s winning pitcher Justin Verlander of the A’s. “We have the toughest division in baseball, without a doubt. The three teams are going to fight and claw all the way to the finish.”

Woven into the competition between the Astros, A’s and Mariners are the numerous accomplishments racked up along the way. Verlander’s 200th win of his career on Sunday ranks among the biggest, as 200 wins for a Major League starting pitcher has taken on the significance that 300 wins once held. Verlander, no stranger to the Coliseum and making himself at home wherever he pitches, moved himself into exclusive company as only the third active pitcher to achieve the milestone, joining C.C. Sabathia and the ageless Bartolo Colon.

Including the playoffs, Verlander has beaten the A’s 16 times, and been dominant in a few of those outings, including the clinching Game 5 win in the 2012 ALDS that forced a full house at the Coliseum to spend the evening sitting on their hands as Verlander’s Tigers cruised to a 6-0 victory.  On Sunday, the 35-year old right hander got all he could handle early as the A’s hottest hitters–Khris Davis and Matt Chapman–combined for three homers off Verlander before the conclusion of the third inning.

Yuri Gurriel allowed Verlander to survive the early onslaught with one swing of the bat, as his three-run shot off Sean Manaea gifted the Astros a brief 4-2 lead. Davis’ second home run–his 36th of the season–got the A’s even, but little went right for Oakland after that.

While the Astros added single runs in the the fourth and fifth to chase Manaea, then added three more off reliever Emilio Pagan in the seventh and eighth innings, the A’s offense went quiet, one of the rare occasions that the A’s didn’t take control of a ballgame late. Marwin Gonzalez capped the Houston outburst with his solo shot in the eighth–the seventh extra base hit for the Astros one day after the A’s tallied eight.

The Astros won for just the second time in their last nine games, part of their struggles with reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve on the disabled list. Altuve started a rehab assignment with Triple-A Fresno on Sunday, giving Houston hope that the second baseman can rejoin the club this week. The Astros continue their road trip in Seattle on Monday, the opener of a three-game set.

The A’s open a series with Texas at the Coliseum on Monday night at 7:05 pm PDT with Mike Fiers facing either Mike Minor or Colon for the Rangers, who have a beat up rotation, and have not announced a starter for any of the three games in Oakland.  The Rangers have dropped four straight to the A’s, and have lost 10 of their previous 13 games at the Coliseum.