WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Interstat) — The Houston Astros’ late-season slide reached a critical point Tuesday night as their offense was silenced in a 5-1 loss to the Athletics at Sutter Health Park.

Houston (84-73), now losers of four straight, tumbled out of an American League playoff position. The Astros dropped four games behind AL West-leading Seattle and one game behind Detroit for the league’s final wild-card spot. The defeat continued a troubling trend for Houston, which has managed just three runs total during its current skid.

Athletics starter Jeffrey Springs (11-11) set the tone, earning the win with five strong innings. He allowed one run on three hits and two walks, effectively navigating trouble when it arose. The Houston offense, which mustered only three hits all night, was completely shut down after Springs departed. The bullpen trio of Tyler Ferguson, Justin Sterner and Michael Kelly combined for four hitless innings of relief to seal the victory before a crowd of 9,465.

Oakland (74-83) took an early lead in the first inning against Houston starter Cristian Javier (2-4). Nick Kurtz led off with a double and later scored when Brent Rooker reached on a fielding error by Javier.

Houston answered in the top of the second. Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz hit back-to-back singles, and after a walk to Jake Meyers loaded the bases, Cam Smith brought Walker home with a sacrifice fly to left field. That would be the high point for the Astros’ offense, as they recorded only one more hit the rest of the game.

The Athletics broke the 1-1 tie in the fourth. Jacob Wilson doubled and scored on a two-out single by Darell Hernaiz. then extended its lead with a two-run fifth inning. Brett Harris doubled, advanced to third on a flyout and scored on a double by Tyler Soderstrom. Wilson followed with an RBI single to plate Soderstrom, chasing Javier from the game.

Javier took the loss, charged with three runs on six hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out four but was outdueled by Springs.

The Athletics added an insurance run in the eighth against reliever Enyel De Los Santos. Wilson walked, advanced to third on a single by Lawrence Butler and a sacrifice bunt, and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Cortes.

Wilson was a catalyst for the Athletics’ offense, going 2 for 2 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored. Soderstrom also contributed two hits and an RBI as part of Oakland’s nine-hit attack.

The Astros, meanwhile, saw potential rallies snuffed out repeatedly. Their best chance came in the third inning when they put two runners on with two outs, but Yainer Diaz popped out to end the threat. In the eighth, a hit-by-pitch to Victor Caratini was erased by an inning-ending double play grounder from Jose Altuve.

The game-time temperature was 72 degrees, and the contest was played in a brisk 2 hours, 29 minutes. The result was an upset according to pregame projections; Interstat’s ELO system had given Houston a 53.3% probability to win, and the Astros were installed as 1.5-run favorites. The combined six total runs fell well under the over/under line of 10.

The two teams continue their three-game series Wednesday night as the Astros look to stop their slide and re-enter the wild-card picture.