If the Houston Astros fail to qualify for the postseason, they can point to the Athletics as a prime reason.
Houston has dropped its past six meetings with the Athletics and is just 4-7 overall as the teams continue a three-game series on Wednesday night in West Sacramento, Calif.
The latest painful result was Tuesday's 5-1 setback when the Astros had just three hits.
The defeat was Houston's fourth straight and leaves the club one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the final American League wild-card berth.
The Astros also are four games behind Seattle in the AL West with five games left. The Mariners also hold the tiebreaker after posting a three-game sweep of Houston over the weekend and will clinch the division with either their next win or the next Houston loss.
Houston (84-73) has scored just eight runs during the skid. Christian Walker had two of the team's three hits on Tuesday.
"For us, we just need to stay the course. We've been a good team all year," Walker said. "We prepared the right way and we work hard. We're ready for this moment and ready to get hot and earn our way into the postseason."
Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez (ankle) could return for the weekend series at the Los Angeles Angels. But Houston manager Joe Espada said there are no excuses for being in this position in the final week of the season.
On Aug. 31, Houston led the division by two games. They have gone 9-11 in September; the Mariners are 15-5.
"Are we missing some bats and we're missing some players? Yeah," Espada said. "But we do have enough talent in that room to overcome those challenges. But that hasn't been the case day in and day out."
The Athletics (74-83) continue to be a thorn. The biggest punch came in late July when the A's swept a four-game series in Houston and outscored the Astros 32-7.
That was the series in which the Athletics' Nick Kurtz had a historic performance by going 6-for-6 with four homers, eight RBIs and six runs in a 15-3 romp on July 25.
Kurtz had a double in four at-bats on Tuesday, dropping his season average against Houston to .514 (18-for-35). He has seven homers, six doubles and 15 RBIs.
Jacob Wilson reached base four times (two hits, two walks) and scored twice and drove in one. Tyler Soderstrom had two hits and one RBI.
Soderstrom particularly was pleased with delivering a blow to the Astros' playoff hopes.
"We're coming into this series wanting to play spoiler and we got off to a good start," Soderstrom said. "We're ready to keep it going and looking to put an end to their season."
Darell Hernaiz, who had an RBI single, expressed similar thoughts.
"They need to win every game and we have nothing to lose," Hernaiz said. "We want to end the season on a strong note and show them we're going to be good for the next couple years."
Houston right-hander Hunter Brown (12-8, 2.30 ERA) starts Wednesday. He has a career-best 201 strikeouts.
Brown, 27, lost to the Mariners last Friday when he gave up two runs and five hits (including two homers) in six innings. He struck out nine.
Brown is 1-1 with a 1.64 ERA in two starts against the Athletics this season. Overall, he is 4-2 with a 2.54 ERA in eight career starts.
Lawrence Butler (5-for-14) and JJ Bleday (3-for-11) each have homered off Brown, while Shea Langeliers is hitless in nine at-bats.
Right-hander Luis Severino (7-11, 4.72) will start Wednesday for the Athletics. He is 5-0 over his past eight starts.
Severino, 31, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates in his last turn when he gave up three runs (one earned) and seven hits over five innings.
Severino is 1-9 with a 6.51 ERA in 14 home starts.
He is 3-5 with a 4.33 ERA in 13 career appearances (12 starts) against Houston. This season, he is 1-1 with a 2.50 ERA.
Yainer Diaz (4-for-10) has homered twice off Severino while Walker is hitless in nine at-bats.
--Field Level Media
