WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Christian Walker homered and drove in three runs to back a strong start from Framber Valdez and the Houston Astros beat the Athletics 11-5 on Thursday to snap a five-game losing streak.

Houston avoided a sweep and ended a seven-game losing streak to the Athletics and remained one game behind Detroit for the final AL wild card with the Tigers owning the tiebreaker. Detroit beat Cleveland 4-2 later Thursday.

Nick Kurtz homered twice and drove in the three runs for the Athletics. He hit a shot off Valdez in the sixth and a two-run shot against Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth. Kurtz's 35 home runs are the second-most by an A's rookie — trailing only Mark McGwire's 49 in 1987. He hit nine homers in 11 games against Houston, tied for fourth-most against the Astros i

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