(Associated Press Photo)
OAKLAND — The Houston Astros have found success stringing together hits, even just base hits. They had five singles in the decisive sixth Wednesday night.
Carlos Correa homered, Mike Fiers struck out five over six innings to win his fourth straight decision, and the majors-best Astros won for the ninth straight time in Oakland, beating the Athletics 5-1.
Evan Gattis hit a two-run single in the sixth against A’s lefty Sean Manaea to break a scoreless tie and back Fiers (5-2). The right-hander also won his seventh straight road decision in his last 11 away outings for Houston (49-24).
“The five singles in an inning continues to be the theme where we can put together innings and score runs without the home run,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “That impressed me that we just took what he gave us, hit the ball hard, got some good results and scored some runs.”
Jake Marisnick added an RBI single in the decisive sixth inning of the Astros’ 14th victory in the last 15 overall against Oakland. Marisnick added a sacrifice fly in the eighth after the A’s got on the board with pinch-hitter Stephen Vogt’s RBI groundout.
Correa connected for his 14th homer in the ninth against Josh Smith and also turned a couple of snazzy double plays.
“That’s why our team’s so dynamic,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “We’ve got speed, we’ve got power, we’ve got power arms.”
Manaea (6-4) lost for the first time in seven starts since a May 15 defeat at Seattle. He had won five consecutive decisions overall, but is yet to beat Houston in six starts.
“They’re unbelievable, one through nine, you don’t catch any breaks,” Manaea said.
Vogt, a catcher, played left field for the first time since July 2, 2014, at Detroit and had several balls immediately hit his way as Oakland lost a third straight game since an impressive four-game sweep of the New York Yankees over the weekend.
“We could have done something a little differently, but if it got down there we wanted another left-handed bat in the lineup and he wanted to play, so he did a nice job with that,” manager Bob Melvin said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: INF Marwin Gonzalez, who injured his left hand earlier this month, didn’t play against a lefty starter — his second straight game out of the lineup. He is healthy but Hinch said he wants to wait until the weekend at Seattle to use Gonzalez against left-handed pitchers. … Rehabbing RHP Collin McHugh, who is dealing with elbow discomfort and is yet to pitch this year, threw 24 pitches in live batting practice in Florida and “felt fine” according to Hinch. The plan is for him to do another similar session.
Athletics: 3B Matt Chapman sat out for a third straight day with a left knee infection. An antibiotic is helping. “Swelling’s coming down a little bit, range of motion better. I’m not sure when we’re going to be comfortable putting him in the field yet, but it’s not today,” Melvin said. … RF Matt Joyce returned to the lineup leading off after missing Tuesday with back tightness. … SS Marcus Semien, who had right wrist surgery April 18, will begin his spring training-like rehab assignment Friday with Class-A Stockton. It’s not going to be just a handful of games, Melvin said. … RHP Chris Bassitt, working back from Tommy John surgery in May 2016, threw 15 pitches over two simulated innings.
ROAD STREAK
Houston’s nine straight victories at the Coliseum mark the Astros’ longest road winning streak in a single venue since 11 in a row at Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park from 2007-09. Houston will go for a sweep in Thursday afternoon’s series finale.
UP NEXT
Rookie RHP David Paulino (1-0) looks to follow up his first major league victory with another stellar start in the series finale opposite A’s RHP Jesse Hahn (3-4), who is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA in three outings since coming off the DL on June 6.
