Emotions bubble as Astros swept by A's

It's hard to imagine things getting any worse for the Houston Astros right now.

Sunday afternoon saw the Astros lose 7-2 to the Oakland Athletics, completing the sweep of Houston in three games and sending the Astros tumbling to third in the division. Christian Javier, who had two stellar starts under his belt earlier in the season, was chased in the third after allowing two home runs back to back that gave Oakland a 5-0 lead.

Yuli Gurriel would add a two-run home run to make the deficit somewhat manageable, but a run for the A's in the bottom of the fifth would prompt the Astros to throw in the metaphorical towel.

With frustrations mounting for the struggling Astros, manager Dusty Baker would let his emotions get the better of him in the top of the seventh inning, prompting him to argue with home plate umpire Nick Mahrley over strike calls. Baker would get ejected shortly after, leaving Joe Espada to manage the remaining few innings for Houston.

The Astros weren't the only team irritated during the game. After getting hit by a pitch for the second time, former Astro and A's outfielder Ramon Laureano would start jawing with Astro pitcher Humberto Castellanos, who was making only his second appearance in the major leagues that afternoon.

Laureano's comments would draw the ire of Astros' hitting coach Alex Cintron. After a heated back and forth between Cintron in the dugout and Laureano on first base, Laureano would charge the Astros' dugout in an attempt to get physical with Cintron. A benches-clearing brawl broke out shortly after.

Obviously, in a season as precarious as this one, charging an entire team and disobeying social distancing guidelines isn't a good look for a league that promised to be more vigilant in how they handled disciplining teams during the pandemic. Suspensions figure to be handed out for both the Astros and the Athletics in the fallout of this incident.

But, for now, the Astros are forced to wear a 6-9 record and a five-game losing streak. They sit 5.5 games behind the Athletics for first place in the division. They scored five runs total throughout their series with Oakland, and went 3-6 during their first road trip.

Christian Javier accepted the loss on the day, his first of the season. A's lefty Jesus Luzardo earned the win, tallying five strikeouts to go along with the two earned runs allowed. The Athletics have won nine straight games.

Houston's next game will be tomorrow, starting a series with the San Francisco Giants back in Minute Maid Park. Lance McCullers will look to right the ship for Houston and end the losing streak.