A’s aggressive rally thwarted by Astros

OAKLAND — The Astros were hoping to take advantage of a more favorable schedule down the stretch in their push for the playoffs. So far, so good.

Designated hitter Evan Gattis cranked his 29th and 30th homers of the season, and Collin McHugh won his fifth consecutive decision to send the Astros to a 6-5 win Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum to polish off a three-game sweep of the A’s.

“We’re really taking this one game at time, which is the worst cliche you can use at this time of year, but it’s the reality of how we show up every day,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. “In trying to win today’s game, we try to focus on ourselves and not on what’s going on around us. We know if we win, good things can happen to us.”

Astros catcher Jason Castro threw out pinch-runner Arismendy Alcantara at second base on a caught stealing to end the game. The A’s scored a run in the ninth on a two-out ground ball off the bat of Stephen Vogt that went through the legs of second baseman Jose Altuve for an error to cut the lead to 6-5, but the caught stealing, which went to a crew-chief review, stood to end the game.

The Astros, who have won six of their last seven games, began play Wednesday two games behind the Orioles for the second Wild Card spot in the American League, with the Tigers only a half-game ahead of Houston.

“What would be the last game here in Oakland this year without a bit of drama?” Hinch said. “That is an incredible game for us. We kept fighting and keep trying to tack on some runs. They never quit; credit to them. Obviously at the end there, the guys they had coming up to bat, it was a very stressful environment. What a way to end it.”

McHugh (12-10) allowed two runs, six hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings to improve to 5-0 in his last six starts. RBI doubles by Brett Eibner in the fourth and Bruce Maxwell in the sixth accounted for the runs against McHugh.

“There were a lot of plays in this game that were just a few inches one way or another, and if we get them, probably talking about a different game right now,” A’s manager Bob …

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