Offensive explosion secures series win against A's

Photo courtesy of Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images

Another day, another series win.

Houston continued their stretch of dominance on Thursday, taking down their division rivals in Oakland by a score of 8-4 to earn a win in the rubber match.

Everyone in the Astros' lineup contributed in the win -- literally, everyone. All nine Astro hitters notched at least one base hit, compiling 14 as a whole. The Astros reached base 17 times, while striking out only four times.

Additionally, it was once again Oakland's Cole Irvin who found himself frustrated by a lethal Houston hitting core. Irvin, a rookie, has almost solely been dominated by the Astros in his young career; against the Astros, Irvin has given up 13 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings, while giving up eight earned runs in 38 innings to every other team he's faced.

The Astros jumped on Irvin early and often. It was the bottom of the order who got things started for the Astros, with Myles Straw and Martín Maldonado reaching in consecutive hits, before the top three batters in the order also reached to put up three runs in the third inning.

The bottom of the order came through again in the very next inning, when Maldonado slapped a two-run home run the opposite way to give the Astros a 5-2 lead.

On the other side, Luis Garcia gave the Astros more than a chance to win. After claiming his first major league victory in his last start, Garcia pitched well in Thursday's outing. He finished with seven strikeouts in five innings pitched, with only two runs allowed. He also earned his second win of his career.

In their last 14 games, the Astros have been white-hot in the batters' box. As a team, Houston is slashing .315/.381/.509, averaging 6.6 runs in that stretch.

With the win, Houston reclaimed first place in the American League West division. While it hardly means anything in May, it's a good step in the right direction for a team that was scuffling a bit not more than a few weeks ago.

"It’s always good to be in first place," second baseman José Altuve said postgame. Altuve is currently riding a 14-game hitting streak, batting .400 (24-60) in that span. “It doesn’t matter if it’s too early. We’ve just got to continue to win some games."

Houston, winners of 11 of their last 14 games, will have another chance to add to their win total and stretch their division lead on Friday when they head to Arlington for a three-game set with the last place Texas Rangers. Tyler Ivey will be making his major league debut on the mound for the Astros, pitching in place of the injured José Urquidy.

First pitch is scheduled for 7 PM CT.