Seth Brown continued to swing a hot bat against the Astros when his double off Justin Verlander in the first scored Marcus Semien to give the A’s a 1-0 lead.
Matt Olson would put the A’s ahead, 3-0 in the third inning, when he hit a Justin Verlander fastball deep over the wall in right for his 32nd home run of the season. The homer scored Semien, who led off the inning with a single to left.
The Astros would get on the board in the bottom of the third, Robinson Chirinos led off the inning with a single, which was followed by a Josh Reddick double off the wall. George Springer would then drive Chirinos in on an RBI groundout.
Jose Altuve would bring the Astros within one in the bottom of the eighth when he delivered his 27th home run of the year over the Crawford Boxes in left. The Astros would threaten later in the eighth inning as well. Alex Bregman drew a 2-out walk, Yordan Alvarez singled to left and Aledmys Diaz followed with a walk, but Blake Treinen struck out Kyle Tucker to kill the threat.
The Astros threatened again in the ninth when Chirinos led off the inning with a walk, Yuli Gurriel would follow that with a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Oakland’s closer Liam Hendricks would then strike out Springer, got a fly out from Altuve and then struck out Michael Brantley looking to slam the door on the Astros come from behind efforts.
Justin Verlander went six innings, allowing five hits, three runs, while striking out 11 as he picks up the loss and falls to 18-6 on the year.
The Astros begin a 3-game series at Kansas City on Friday night with Gerrit Cole (16-5, 2.73) scheduled to face Danny Duffy (6-6, 4.71).