OAKLAND, Calif. -- Daniel Mengden threw the pitch exactly where he wanted. Where it wound up -- not what the Oakland rookie wanted.Evan Gattis homered twice, catcher Jason Castro threw out a runner to end the game and the contending Houston Astros beat the Athletics 6-5 Wednesday to finish off a sweep.The Astros began the day two games behind Baltimore for the second AL wild-card spot.Gattis reached 30 homers. He hit a two-run drive in the sixth off Mengden (2-8) for a 4-1 lead and connected again in the eighth.Gattis tagged a 1-2 curveball at his knees on the outer part of the plate, highlighting a three-run inning that gave the Astros a 4-1 lead.I thought I made a pretty good pitch but he made a pretty good swing and it went out, Mengden said.Gattis first homer on the day followed Carlos Correas run-scoring double.I think the one bad pitch (Mengden) made was the two-strike pitch to Correa, As manager Bob Melvin said. The pitch to Gattis was a good pitch, it was almost on the ground. You have to give Gattis credit there.Oakland scored on second baseman Jose Altuves fielding error with two outs in the ninth inning to pull within 6-5. Castro then threw out pinch runner Arismendy Alcantara trying to steal second, and the call was upheld on a replay review.That replay on the stolen base was a tough one, Melvin said. (Astros reliever Luke Gregerson) is a pretty easy guy to steal on for the most part. I dont think (Arismendy) got his best jump on that one but thats what hes in there for and Castro made a good throw.There are a lot of plays in this game that were just a couple of inches one way or the other and if we get them were probably talking about a different game right now, but we didnt and they won the game, he said.Collin McHugh (12-10) won his fifth straight decision, allowing two runs and six hits over 5 2/3 innings. Five relievers combined to record the final 10 outs, with Gregerson retiring three batters for his 15th save.Carlos Correa had two hits, including an RBI double, and Altuve singled twice and scored a run. Gattis homered for third time in three days to complete the three-game sweep.The Astros scored their first run without a hit in the fifth inning and added three more in the sixth.Altuve, the ALs leading hitter, had a one-out single and scored the go-ahead run on Correas double. Gattis followed with a home run.Gattis homer in the eighth was a towering shot that hit off the fa?ade underneath the luxury suites in center field.Danny Valencia singled and scored twice for the As. Oakland has lost the first three games on its final homestand after an impressive 6-1 road trip.MENGDEN WEARS DOWNMengden needed only 26 pitches to get through the first three innings and didnt give up a hit until Yuli Gurriels one-out single in the fourth before things quickly unraveled. He allowed four runs over 5 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.TRAINERS ROOMAstros: OF Colby Rasmus missed his third straight game because of a lot of different physical issues, according to manager A.J. Hinch. Rasmus missed 23 games earlier this season after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst in his right ear. ... Preston Tucker was scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on his right shoulder Wednesday and the team is confident the outfielder will be healed in time for spring training.Athletics: OF Khris Davis missed his second straight game after being a late scratch Tuesday because of an illness. ... Reliever J.B. Wendelken will seek a second opinion on his right elbow but Melvin indicated its likely Wendelken will undergo Tommy John surgery.UP NEXTAthletics: Kendall Graveman (10-10) starts against Texas on Friday at the Coliseum. The right-hander is winless since Aug. 24. Cheap Jerseys From China . -- There were so many positives from the Orlando Magics first victory of the season that it was hard for coach Jacque Vaughn to stop praising his players. Authentic Jerseys Wholesale http://www.authenticcheapjerseys.us/ . -- Damian Lillard and LaMarcus Alrdridge were again the go-to duo for the Trail Blazers against the Kings. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . -- In a span of seven Washington Redskins offensive plays, Justin Tuck sacked Robert Griffin III four times. Authentic NFL Jerseys Cheap . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. After his minor scare in Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso said McLaren still faces a fight to make Q3 despite Hondas upgraded power unit.Alonso moved on to a new Honda engine in Malaysia so the Japanese manufacturer could avoid penalties for its home race this weekend. The upgrade includes a new engine block and exhaust, the latter of which he damaged with a spin into the barriers in the early stages FP1.He recovered to record 37 laps in the afternoon session but still thinks McLaren will struggle make the top ten shootout on Saturday afternoon.I think we have to wait for Saturday to see where we are but Im sure we wont be so further up the order as today, Alonso said after finishing ninth in FP2. In the first session I got a reasonably good lap time, in spite of my minor scare, and then we had a bit of a problem with an exhaust, that cost us a bit of time and didnt allow me to go out and try the Medium tyres.We tried to make up for the lost ground in the second session, managing 37 laps, so we gathered very good information about the tyre degradation.dddddddddddd. I think we ended up in P8, Ricciardo couldnt complete his lap, so that means already P9 at best, and on top of that we already know than on Saturday the others can take more out of their engines, so well be fighting to get into Q3.Rain is forecast for later in the weekend but Alonso thinks that could go either way for McLaren in terms of its place in the pecking order.Hopefully it wont rain in FP3, otherwise, with the changes we have to make, well walk into qualifying like into a bit of an unknown.If it rains it will change everything, but it can go your way or against you, as it a bit of a lottery. You have to get the tyres right - intermediates or full wets - but in any case we have to do our best, be it dry or wet. It will be very tight to get into Q3 but well do our best. 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