HOUSTON _ A's pitcher Liam Hendriks let a 3-1 lead get away in the eighth inning as the Houston Astros scored three times after there were two outs and no runners on for a 4-3 win and a three-game sweep.
Taking over from Ross Detwiler, who had allowed just three hits and one run in seven innings, Hendriks got two quick outs before George Springer tripled to the corner of the slope in center field.
Hendriks thought he was out of trouble a few moments later when he got Alex Bregman to swing at strike three, but the ball got through catcher Bruce Maxwell for a wild pitch as Springer scored.
Jose Altuve then tied the game with a triple to right-center, and after Carlos Correa was intentionally walked, Evan Gattis delivered the game-winning single to left.
Ken Giles worked through the A's in the top of the ninth to close out Oakland's 76th loss against 57 wins.
Detwiler's performance was his best since his Aug. 10 debut, when he threw eight scoreless innings in a 1-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
The A's gave him early support with a three-run second inning with a two-run triple by Jake Smolinski standing as the centerpiece.
Detwiler only had one bout of wildness, and it cost him a run. He opened the fourth with a walk to Bregman and uncorked a wild pitch before Correa delivered a run-scoring double.
The Astros only had one base runner after the fourth inning and Detwiler wound up retiring 10 of the last 11 batters he faced before turning the game over to the bullpen to start the eighth inning.
Joey Wendle, making his first Major League appearance, hit a bullet up the middle in his first at-bat in the second inning. It might well have been a hit were it not for the fact that the Astros had scouted him and had shifted toward the right. So shortstop Carlos Correa was right there, but the ball handcuffed him, giving the A's an opportunity.
Smolinski, batting against Mike Fiers with one out and two on, lashed a line drive that got down in left-center and skipped past center fielder Jake Marisnick. Both Yonder Alonso, who had singled, and Wendle raced home to score.
And after Bruce Maxwell's sacrifice fly made it 3-0, A's were in position to emerge from the six-game road trip with a 3-3 split, but Hendriks couldn't close it out.
