The A’s needed tonight’s victory for several reasons. One, to maintain pace with the red-hot Astros, winners of 10 straight games. Two, to pull away from mediocrity and the .500 mark as they came into the game with a 10-10 record. Third, to prove to themselves (and to the league) that they deserve to be in the same category as the Astros as one of the elite AL teams.
Behind 6 1⁄3 innings of one run baseball from Frankie Montas, the A’s accomplished all three and grabbed a must needed win to split the two game home series with the Astros, breaking Houston’s winning streak in the process.