Astros' edge for home field in playoffs cut with loss to A's

HOUSTON (AP) — Matt Olson and Chad Pinder each homered and the Oakland Athletics beat Houston 8-6 Friday night, cutting the Astros’ edge for home-field advantage in the AL playoffs.

Houston leads the White Sox by one game for home field in their best-of-five Division Series matchup next week. The AL West champion Astros also own the tiebreaker after going 5-2 against AL Central champion Chicago this season.

“We wanted to win today,” said Jake Meyers, who had two hits and drove in two runs for Houston. “We had an opportunity to win today. … That’s something we want to do. That’s the next goal in the next few games is to hopefully get both of those Ws.”

Pinder hit a solo shot in the fourth and Olson had a two-run drive in the sixth to increase Oakland’s advantage to 4-1.

“We still have games to play,” Olson said. “When we’re out there, we’re going to compete. That’s what we do. It’s all we know really. To push those runs across, we got a couple big hits. A pretty solid win against a good team.”

Pinder added an RBI grounder as the A’s scored four times in the eighth for an 8-2 lead.

Sean Manaea (11-10) permitted two runs on seven hits with six strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings as the A’s ended a three-game losing streak.

The left-hander became the fifth pitcher in Oakland history with at least five consecutive winning seasons, joining Tim Hudson, Catfish Hunter, Dave Stewart and Dennis Eckersley.

“He had a terrific season; he really did,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “Overall, he finished the year with a less than four ERA and the innings he gave us, one of the better starters in the American League.”

Lou Trivino got four outs for his 22nd save. He allowed a leadoff double in the ninth to Yordan Alvarez and walked Carlos...

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