Astros 5, Athletics 4
Brandon Barnes ripped a two-run double and Jordan Lyles tossed seven strong innings to record his first victory in nearly two months as visiting Houston snapped a six-game losing streak.
Matt Dominguez collected two hits and scored a run while Chris Carter delivered a two-out RBI double. Jason Castro extended his career-high hitting streak to 11 games and added a sacrifice fly for the Astros, who posted just their third win in 19 all-time meetings between the clubs.
Yoenis Cespedes belted a two-run homer among his three hits and Josh Reddick recorded an RBI single in the eighth inning for the wild card-leading Athletics, who remained one game behind Texas in the American League West.
Barnes completed a nine-pitch at-bat in the second inning by ripping a fastball from Bartolo Colon (14-5) off the wall in left field, plating Castro and Dominguez to open the scoring. Castro's sacrifice fly and Carter's RBI double in the third doubled the advantage.
Lyles (5-6) secured his first victory since June 18 by allowing one run on five hits. Josh Zeid struck out a pair before Reddick's RBI single and Cespedes' 19th homer brought the Athletics within one, but Chris Young's deep fly sailed just wide of the foul pole in left and Chia-Jen Lo struck him out on the next pitch to register his first career save.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Colon fell to 3-1 against Houston this season after permitting five runs on seven hits in just four innings. ... 3B Josh Donaldson scored on a double play in the fifth inning for the Athletics, who suffered their first home loss in seven meetings with the Astros. ... Cespedes has collected seven hits in his last five contests.