Yuli Gurriel, Evan Gattis, Martin Maldonado, Alex Bregman, and Marwin Gonzalez all homered, and the Astros salvaged the series finale against the A's with a 9-4 win. Maldonado also came a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
The A's belted three home runs of their own, two from Khris Davis and another from Matt Chapman, but that was all the offense they could muster. The loss drops Oakland to 74-50, one game behind Houston in the AL West. The A's remain 3 1/2 games ahead of Seattle for the second Wild Card spot, thanks to the Dodgers' win over the Mariners.
Here's what else you need to know from Sunday's defeat...
--- Davis officially owns Justin Verlander. Following his three-hit, two-home run performance Sunday, Davis is 6-for-11 with four home runs and a double in his career against the former MVP. Davis now has six multi-home run games this season and 21 in his career. He ranks third in MLB with 36 home runs and second with 98 RBI.
--- Chapman's home run was his 17th of the season. He hit it to dead center field off Verlander in the first inning. Chapman is batting .311 in August, with four homers and 10 RBI, raising his season average to .276.
--- Sean Manaea had a rough outing, lasting just four innings and allowing six earned runs on nine hits. Manaea started out well, retiring seven of the first eight Astros he faced, but got knocked around his second time through the lineup. The A's left-hander falls to 11-9 on the season with a 3.70 ERA.
--- Lou Trivino had a strong bounce-back performance, pitching a perfect fifth inning. Trivino entered with runners on first and second, but induced a Gurriel double play and Carlos Correa flyout to strand the runners. After a spectacular first half of the season, Trivino had allowed four earned runs in his previous 4 2/3 innings, prompting some questions about fatigue. But his velocity has remained high, and he looked like the old Trivino Sunday.
