The Oakland Athletics broke out a little bit of everything Friday

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) —night to snap their two-game skid: efficient starting pitching Houston Astros Jersey , sharp singles, sacrifice flies and even their first bunt-single of the year.And oh yes, home runs.Sean Manaea (12-9) stifled Minnesota’s batters into the sixth inning, and Matt Chapman broke things open with a three-run homer and the A’s beat the Twins 7-1 on Friday night to maintain their hold on the AL’s final wild-card spot.Stephen Piscotty and Ramon Laureano added a ninth-inning shot each as the A’s did just enough against Twins starter Jake Odorizzi (5-8) before pouncing on the bullpen.“We’ve been playing so well and all of a sudden we have two losses in a row, which we haven’t had in a while now,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “So now it’s time to respond and they did.”After giving up some early runs in their last two losses, the A’s got back to the winning formula that helped them ramp up their pursuit of Houston in the AL West.Manaea recovered nicely from a rough outing against Houston last weekend. He yielded an unearned run, five hits and a walk with one strikeout. He threw 50 of his 67 pitches for strikes before manager Melvin pulled him for Lou Trivino after Eddie Rosario’s leadoff single in the sixth.“We have a full ‘pen today, and based on the last couple of starts I didn’t want to get him into a jam where he had a chance to take a loss,” Melvin said.Up to that point, Odorizzi had pitched well himself, also allowing only one earned run off five hits and one walk. But Oliver Drake relieved Odorizzi in the eighth and found himself in trouble quickly, allowing a single and a walk before Chapman’s 18th homer, a shot to right that made it 5-1.“Good teams can beat you in many different ways, whether it’s bunting to beat the shift, or it’s home runs or flare singles into right center, whatever,” said Jonathan Lucroy, whose RBI single in the fifth made it 2-1. “You’ve got to have a lot of weapons. You can just be one-sided with homers. We’ve got to beat you a lot of different ways.”Eddie Rosario scored Minnesota’s lone run in the fourth on Miguel Sano’s sac-fly to center.THAT’S A FIRSTJed Lowrie’s bunt single in the first inning against the shift extended his hitting streak to four games.“I thought they’d mistaken me for Joey Gallo,” Lowrie quipped of the Texas Rangers infielder. “I’ve never had four outfielders before. But I like hits.”ODORIZZI’S STREAKOdorizzi pitched seven innings for the first time this season after opening the year with 26 consecutive starts without an out in the seventh — the longest such streak in major league history. The Twins right-hander allowed one earned run http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey , five hits and a walk.“I wouldn’t say it’s a breakthrough,” Odorizzi said. “It’s nice to get the results when you feel like you’re feeling good and throwing the ball well.”His lone fifth-inning walk proved costly when Odorizzi’s bad throw to second off a grounder allowed Lowrie to reach third and later score on Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly.MAUER’S MILESTONEThe crowd gave Joe Mauer a standing ovation after he singled off Manaea in the fifth for his 2,086th career hit, moving him past Rod Carew for second-most hits in club history behind Kirby Puckett’s 2,304.“It was pretty special to see the guys at the top step, and the fans on their feet. That really means a lot,” Mauer said.Manaea ended the two-on, two-out threat by inducing Logan Forsythe into a pop-fly to center.TRAINER’S ROOMTwins: Placed C Bobby Wilson on the 10-day DL with a sprained right ankle he injured Thursday night. The Twins called up Willians Astudillo from Triple-A Rochester. … Manager Paul Molitor said there’s enough lack of extension in RHP Ervin Santana’s injured finger to shut down all throwing activities.PLAYERS WEEKENDThe teams rolled out their players’ weekend jerseys, complete with nicknames across their shoulders. Among the highlights:“Manaelator” (Manaea)“Jedi” (Lowrie, although his nickname was officially listed “Capt. Barrel”)“Sauce” (Marcus Semien)“Logie Bear” (Logan Forsythe)“Garv Sauce” (Mitch Garver)And reserved hometown favorite Mauer? “Mauer”UP NEXT:Athletics: RHP Mike Fiers (9-6) takes the mound for his fourth start since joining the A’s from Detroit on Aug. 6. He’s 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA in three starts with Oakland.Twins: Rookie RHP Stephen Gonsalves (0-1) makes his second career start. The touted prospect allowed four runs, six hits and two walks with three strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings Monday against the Chicago White Sox. The Boston Red Sox may have won a major league-best 108 games in the regular season, but they find themselves with a 1-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series against the Houston Astros after dropping a 7-2 decision in Game 1.The World Series champions led through the majority of the game and survived a tying rally by the Red Sox in the bottom of the fifth inning to take the lead again in the top of the sixth. The Astros were up 3-2 into the top of the ninth and put away the game with home runs by Josh Reddick and Yuli Gurriel.Shortstop Carlos Correa drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out base hit off of the hard-throwing Joe Kelly."I was looking for a fastball, and he throws 100, so I had to be ready for that," Correa told TBS reporter Lauren Shehadi after the game. "It was up in the zone, and I put a really good swing on it."Kelly relieved Red Sox starter Chris Sale, who pitched four innings before manager Alex Cora pulled him. Sale only gave up one hit, but he walked four and gave up two runs. Sale settled down and pitched effectively in the third and fourth innings, but by then, he had thrown 86 pitches Hector Rondon Jersey , and that count was too high.Game 1: Astros 7, Red Sox 2, Houston leads series 1-0Game 2:Sunday, October 14 at Boston (7:09 p.m., TBS)Game 3:Tuesday, October 16 at Houston (5:09 p.m., TBS)Game 4:Wednesday, October 17 at Houston (8:39 p.m., TBS)Game 5:Thursday, October 18 at Houston (8:09 p.m., TBS)*Game 6:Saturday, October 20 at Boston (5:09 p.m., TBS)*Game 7:Sunday, October 21 at Boston (7:39 p.m., TBS)**If necessary.All Times ET. Game 2 tickets:StubHub. Sale was ineffective, but Houston starter Justin Verlander was quite sharp and earned the win. Verlander gave up two runs on two hits, and he struck out six batters, dominating with his fastball.ESPN Stats amp; Info ESPNStatsInfoGeorge Springer gave the Astros a 2-0 lead with a bases loaded single.Springer currently has 12 RBI in his last 10 playoff games. Tonight is his 5th career multi-RBI game in the playoffs, 3rd-most in Astros history behind Lance Berkman (8) and Carlos Correa (7). 9B7G7AAbqdCorrea said Verlander gave the Astros just what they were looking for in the ALCS opener. "Whenever Justin is on the mound, we go to the field expecting to win http://www.astrosfanproshop.com/authentic-justin-verlander-jersey ," Correa said on the broadcast. "That's just what Justin gave us tonight. He did what he does best, shutting down the lineup. They have a great lineup over there, but he was lights out."Game 2 is scheduled for Sunday at 7:09 p.m. ET. TBS will televise proceedings.David Price, who was knocked out of his American League Division Series start by the New York Yankees after 1.2 innings, will start for the Red Sox.Hard-throwing right-hander GerritCole will be on the mound for the Astros.The Red Sox are going to to need a consistent pitching effort from Price, and their big hitters have to come through.Mookie Betts opened the game with a single off of Verlander, but that was his only hit in four at-bats. J.D. Martinez was hitless in three at bats, although he did have one walk.The Red Sox, who ranked first in the Major Leagues with 876 runs scored during the season, were held to three singles. They looked nothing like the team that scored 16 runs in Game 3 of the ALDS at Yankee Stadium.They face a crucial game Sunday. If they drop a second straight home game to the Astros, they will take a 2-0 deficit to Houston and be attempting to win four of the next five games against the World Series champions.Gerrit Cole will take the mound for the Astros in Game 2.David J. Phillip/Associated Press PredictionThe Red Sox sent their best pitcher to the mound, and he was unable to pitch into the fifth inning. Price takes the mound in Game 2, and he has struggled throughout his postseason career.If he doesn't put an end to that streak Sunday, the Red Sox are likely to find themselves in a deep hole. Boston's hitters are also going to have to do quite a bit better with their offense after a three-hit performance in Game 1.Even if Price can pitch a solid game and Cole proves more hittable than Verlander, that doesn't mean the Red Sox will have enough to win this game.They must play a flawless defensive game, contribute timely hitting and make decisive pitches when the game is on the line.The expectation here is that the Red Sox will play better than they did in Game 1, but it will not be good enough.Houston wins Game 2 on the road and takes a 2-0 series lead.