Khris Davis extends streak as A’s blitz Astros

HOUSTON — If the A’s came back to the clubhouse feeling a hangover effect from the previous night’s brutal loss, it certainly didn’t show.

The A’s brushed off the chaos that ensued at home plate the night before in a big way, jumping on Lance McCullers Jr. early in Wednesday’s 8-3 victory over the Astros.

It only took the first four batters of the game for the A’s (5241) to get two runs on the board courtesy of a booming two-run double off the wall in left-center by Khris Davis. The extrabase hit extended Davis careerhigh hitting streak to 13 games, which is also currently the longest active streak in the majors.

Though the home runs have been few and far between lately for one of the most prolific sluggers of the past three seasons, just one in his last 23 games, Davis is going through his best stretch of the season as he’s hitting .370 during the streak.

Davis also tripled off the wall in left-center in the sixth to drive home another run, finishing the night 2 for 5 with a double, triple, and three RBIs.

McCullers has traditionally been tough on the A’s. He entered the night 4-1 with a 3.46 ERA in seven games against Oakland, but the A’s blitzed him this time around.

After a three-run first, the A’s added three more in the fourth as Matt Chapman was hit by a pitch and Mark Canha walked to set up a three-run homer to left by Chad Pinder, his ninth of the season, to give Chris Bassitt a nice six-run cushion.

The A’s chased McCullers out of the game after just four innings, and the right-handers six earned runs allowed were the most he’s ever given up in a home start at Minute Maid Park.

Bassitt was sharp through the first three innings as he kept the Astros (62-33) hitless, but ran into some trouble in the fourth when three straight singles to lead off the inning resulted in two runs. He managed to limit the damage to just the two runs, and though he also surrendered a solo home run to Tyler White in the fifth, it was another solid start for Bassitt as he allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with a strikeout over five innings of work. He improved to 2-3 on the season, with his ERA now at 3.38 through six starts.

The impressive run continues for the A’s, who have now won 18 of their last 23 games and have not lost back-to-back games since a four-game losing streak at the Coliseum June 1215.