OAKLAND, Calif. _ It may have looked more like a prizefight than a baseball game, with the A's getting outslugged by the Houston Astros on Sunday.
The two teams combined for eight home runs, with A's pitchers allowing five in a 9-4 loss to the Astros to fall out of a first place tie in the American League West.
Matt Chapman and Khris Davis both homered in the first and Davis added another in the third, his 36th of the season, to briefly tie the game at 4.
Still, an A's pitching staff _ that had been largely rock solid for the last two months _ took it on the chin from the defending World Series champions before an announced crowd of 29,143 at the Coliseum.
Oakland starter Sean Manaea allowed six earned runs in four innings, and reliever Emilio Pagan allowed three solo home runs bridging the seventh and eighth innings as the Astros moved back into sole possession of first place in the AL West.
Manaea allowed four runs in the third inning, including a three-run homer to Yuli Gurriel down the left-field line that gave Houston a 4-2 lead.
The Astros added another run in the fourth, and Manaea was taken out by A's manager Bob Melvin after Houston scored in the top of the fifth for a 6-4 advantage. It was only the third time in his last 15 starts that Manaea had failed to last at least five innings.
Both of Davis' home runs came on first-pitch fastballs from Astros starter Justin Verlander, with his second _ and opposite-field shot _ tying the game 4-4.
The A's had a chance to cut into the lead in the bottom of the sixth after Verlander was removed. But with the bases loaded and two outs, reliever Brad Peacock got Mark Canha swinging on an 82-mph slider.
The weekend still had to be considered a success for the A's after they beat the Astros on Friday and Saturday to win their seventh series since the All-Star break.
The A's on Monday begin a three game series with Texas one game back of Houston, which continues its road trip with three games in Seattle, also starting Monday.
