Now that the Astros are back in first place in the American League West, how do they stay there?\n\nWell, continuing to perform like they have against the rest of the division for the remainder of the season would probably get the job done. After beating the A’s, 8-4, on Thursday afternoon in Oakland for the seventh time in 10 meetings this year, the Astros (26-18) took over sole possession of first place.\n\n“It’s always significant when you’re in first place,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Had we lost this game today, we would have come in here half a game back and leave 1 1/2 games behind. We’ll take it at any point in time this season. Hopefully, we never relinquish first place. The guys are feeling it, they’re feeling good about themselves and we’re playing really good baseball, outside of a couple of mistakes. And we’re playing good defense.”
Astros third baseman
Oakland, which had spent 27 days alone in first place, has yet to play any team in the AL West other than Houston. The A's are 12-15 against teams with a winning record; the Astros are 12-7.\n\n“You certainly have to win in your division,” Baker said.\n\nOn Thursday, Houston reached double-digit hits for the eighth time in its past 10 games, scoring three times in the third off Cole Irvin to take a 3-1 lead. Catcher
The Astros’ offense has been nothing short of relentless recently, averaging 6.6 runs per game in the last 14 games. They’re slashing .315/.381/.509 with 22 homers in that span. Not surprisingly, second baseman
Perhaps the area where the Astros are most vulnerable is their bullpen, which has a 6.75 ERA in its last five games. Closer