OAKLAND, Calif. -AP- A's first basemen Yonder Alonso has spent the past few weeks doing extra with hitting coaches searching for anything to get him out of a dreadful funk.He bursted out in a big way, hitting a three-run game-ending homer on Friday night to lift Oakland to a 7-4 win over the Houston Astros."I've just been trying to get back to what I know I can do and what they know I can do," he said. 
Alonso's first homer of the year and first career game-ending one came on a 1-0 sinker off Pat Neshek. The ninth inning rally capped a comeback from a 4-2 deficit going into the bottom of the eighth inning."Obviously given the situation of the game, you know how we came back down 4-2 says a lot about our team and a lot about our bullpen (which) has been fantastic all year," Alonso said. "We played good defense and we battled. Just a good team win."We needed that."The A's had lost five of their previous six games.Alonso, who was hitting .154 going into Friday, is unlikely to forget any of it."Incredible," he said. "You don't feel anything. You're flying around the bases and to be honest you get goose bumps running around and you just want to take it all in."Stephen Vogt started the decisive rally leading off the ninth with a double to left off reliever Tony Sipp (0-1).Ryan Madsen (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for Oakland that started with Carlos Gomez getting thrown out at third trying to stretch a double to left.Madsen was the fifth A's pitcher on the night.Sean Manaea, a hard-throwing left-hander acquired from the Royals last season in the Ben Zobrist trade, became the 45th pitcher to start in his major league debut in franchise history.The highly-touted left-hander allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in five-plus innings. He had three strikeouts and hit a batter."That was a really awesome way to get welcomed to the bigs," Manaea said. "That was an unreal experience."Manaea, 24, impressed his Oakland teammates too."I thought he was great," Alonso said "I think his command was great and his poise was incredible. That's what I really liked about him."Coco Crisp was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and Marcus Semienstarted a two-run rally in the eighth with a solo homer -- his sixth.Evan Gattis was 2 for 4 with a solo homer -- the Astros' cleanup hitter's first.Mike Fiers, looking to win his third straight start, allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five batters and allowed no walks.He left the game with a 4-2 lead.The Astros, who were expected to contend for the divisional title, lost for the eighth time in 10 games. They entered Friday tied for the league's worst record and haven't won consecutive games this season."We need to figure out how to win as a team," Fiers said. "It feels like something always happens that we can't finish these game. We know we're good enough to win these games and I know we keep talking about it. We need to show it and stop talking."Astros manager A.J. Hinch echoed Fiers' frustration."What has been consistent is that every mistake we make has been magnified and comes back to haunt us," Hinch said.
Alonso's first homer of the year and first career game-ending one came on a 1-0 sinker off Pat Neshek. The ninth inning rally capped a comeback from a 4-2 deficit going into the bottom of the eighth inning."Obviously given the situation of the game, you know how we came back down 4-2 says a lot about our team and a lot about our bullpen (which) has been fantastic all year," Alonso said. "We played good defense and we battled. Just a good team win."We needed that."The A's had lost five of their previous six games.Alonso, who was hitting .154 going into Friday, is unlikely to forget any of it."Incredible," he said. "You don't feel anything. You're flying around the bases and to be honest you get goose bumps running around and you just want to take it all in."Stephen Vogt started the decisive rally leading off the ninth with a double to left off reliever Tony Sipp (0-1).Ryan Madsen (1-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for Oakland that started with Carlos Gomez getting thrown out at third trying to stretch a double to left.Madsen was the fifth A's pitcher on the night.Sean Manaea, a hard-throwing left-hander acquired from the Royals last season in the Ben Zobrist trade, became the 45th pitcher to start in his major league debut in franchise history.The highly-touted left-hander allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in five-plus innings. He had three strikeouts and hit a batter."That was a really awesome way to get welcomed to the bigs," Manaea said. "That was an unreal experience."Manaea, 24, impressed his Oakland teammates too."I thought he was great," Alonso said "I think his command was great and his poise was incredible. That's what I really liked about him."Coco Crisp was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and Marcus Semienstarted a two-run rally in the eighth with a solo homer -- his sixth.Evan Gattis was 2 for 4 with a solo homer -- the Astros' cleanup hitter's first.Mike Fiers, looking to win his third straight start, allowed two runs on seven hits in seven innings. He struck out five batters and allowed no walks.He left the game with a 4-2 lead.The Astros, who were expected to contend for the divisional title, lost for the eighth time in 10 games. They entered Friday tied for the league's worst record and haven't won consecutive games this season."We need to figure out how to win as a team," Fiers said. "It feels like something always happens that we can't finish these game. We know we're good enough to win these games and I know we keep talking about it. We need to show it and stop talking."Astros manager A.J. Hinch echoed Fiers' frustration."What has been consistent is that every mistake we make has been magnified and comes back to haunt us," Hinch said.
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