Rewind: A's Offense Goes Punchless in Return Home

OAKLAND - The A's got a taste of success on their last road trip, and that makes the first two games of this homestand a little tougher to swallow.

Sean Manaea delivered another sterling starting effort, but it wound up going for naught in the A's 2-1 loss in 10 innings to Houston on Tuesday night.

"It was especially frustrating considering the start we got from Manaea," said reliever Sean Doolittle, who gave up the winning run in the top of the 10th. "It was probably one of his best starts of the year. We felt like we were playing some of our best baseball coming off that road trip. Back-to-back tough losses, it's really frustrating."

Perhaps it's the Astros' pitching. Perhaps it's the small crowds and sedate environment of the Coliseum. But the A's offense has gone silent after a road trip in which Oakland batted .311 as a team and averaged 9.3 runs per game in winning six of seven. The A's have scrounged up just three runs total on six hits in the dropping the first two games of this series to the Astros (80-71), who are two games out of the American League's second Wild Card spot.

"All around we need to do a better job to win that game," third baseman Ryon Healy said. "Unfortunately it's just part of the game. We go on a road trip and we score endless amounts of runs and the offense is always there. And we come home and score three runs the last two nights. It's something we've got to bounce back from and keep pushing forward."

[INSTANT REPLAY: Astros get to Doolittle, beat A's in 10th]

If there's been a bright side to begin this homestand, it's the pitching of rookie starters Manaea and Jharel Cotton. After Cotton allowed one run in six innings in Monday's 4-2 loss, Manaea delivered six scoreless innings Tuesday, striking out seven and walking two. He's shown no ill effects whatsoever in two starts coming back from a strained left rhomboid muscle in his upper back.

The lefty, who began the night ranked second among AL rookies in strikeouts (109) and innings pitched (125 2/3), said he's feeling back to full strength physically.

"Everything just felt like it was on tonight," Manaea said.

Doolittle (2-3) hadn't been charged with a run in five games since returning from the disabled list, but he entered in the top of the 10th and allowed Tony Kemp's leadoff double. Jake Marisnick sacrificed him to third and George Springer singled past a drawn-in infield to break a 1-1 tie.

The A's current six-game losing streak against the Astros is their longest ever against Houston. But looking at the big picture moving forward, they can at least draw consolation from the work of Cotton and Manaea, both of whom could play instrumental roles in next year's rotation.

"That's one of the silver linings far of this series," Doolittle said. "Obviously it stings not having anything to show for it so far. But it's awesome to see these young guys come up and really take advantage of this opportunity."

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Danny Valencia was ejected after striking out to end the ninth. He was upset over the previous pitch, which he thought was ball four.

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