HOUSTON --?Streakiness is a classic sign of an inexperienced team. For these young A¡¯s, the extreme highs and lows continue to fluctuate.

There¡¯s a reason August is often referred to as ¡°The Dog Days¡± in baseball. Especially for a rebuilding club like Oakland that is clearly out of playoff contention, it¡¯s an awkward point in the schedule where struggles can begin to snowball.?

The A¡¯s continue to exemplify that theory. A July that saw them post their first winning month this season generated positive momentum for the second half. August, however, has brought scuffles. Falling to the Astros, 6-3, at Minute Maid Park on Sunday afternoon, the A¡¯s were swept in three games in Houston and saw their losing streak extend to eight games.?

¡°Disappointing not to come out with a win,¡± manager Mark Kotsay said. ¡°We had an opportunity Friday night with a lead. [Saturday], we weren¡¯t in that game at all. Today, we fought until the last out.¡±

A late comeback attempt on Sunday saw the A¡¯s bring Vimael Mach¨ªn to the plate as the tying run against Astros closer Ryan Pressly in the ninth after scoring three runs over the game¡¯s final two innings, including a solo shot by Nick Allen in the eighth.

Prior to Allen¡¯s homer, the A¡¯s had been held to one hit through seven innings and mostly stymied by Astros starter Cristian Javier, who fired six scoreless frames.

¡°August is that time of year where you get some dog days and have to grind through it,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°We haven¡¯t played terrible baseball. We¡¯ve faced some good teams. We¡¯ve been in most of the games. We just have to find a way to grind it out and win.¡±?

One major standout from this weekend series between the two clubs going opposite directions was the success against A¡¯s pitching with two outs. Of the 21 runs scored by the Astros over these three games, 18 came with two outs.?

¡°We¡¯ve looked into that and talked about it,¡± Kotsay said of the two-out woes. ¡°It seems to be an issue that we have had some problems with recently. Not just two outs, but maybe with two strikes and putting guys away.¡±

On Sunday, A¡¯s starter Cole Irvin matched a season-high five runs allowed on eight hits and a walk with five strikeouts over six innings. All five runs came in situations with two outs, snapping the left-hander¡¯s seven-game streak of allowing two earned runs or fewer in a game.?

¡°I didn¡¯t do a good enough job executing pitches with two outs,¡± Irvin said. ¡°That¡¯s something that I need to work on going into my next outing. Just not happy overall with the day.¡±?

Of course, there¡¯s a bigger picture the A¡¯s are focused on: Identifying players who can contribute to their future. Rookie Cal Stevenson continues to make a solid first impression over his first week in the Major Leagues. Since his debut on Wednesday, Stevenson has received the start in center field in all four of Oakland¡¯s games and has reached base safely at least once in each.

Defensively, Stevenson has lived up to the scouting reports that labeled him as a plus defender with good reads on balls. He was quite active on Sunday, recording nine putouts, which marked the most by an A¡¯s center fielder in one game since Chris Young¡¯s nine putouts in 2013.?

¡°He made some exceptional plays,¡± Kotsay said of Stevenson. ¡°He¡¯s got instincts. He takes great routes directly to balls. Made several nice catches out there today that were impressive.¡±

Stevenson¡¯s most dazzling play came in the sixth, when he displayed his impressive range to track down a deep flyout to left-center field by Trey Mancini. Initially thinking he might have to dive for the ball, Stevenson reached a sprint speed of 26.6 feet per second before chasing down the ball, which was struck 106.8 mph off the bat with a 76 percent hit probability, according to Statcast.?

¡°The one that Mancini hit in the gap was one I thought I was going to have to lay out for,¡± said Stevenson. ¡°It kind of just hung up a little bit. But they all felt pretty routine and normal to me.¡±?

Going forward, Stevenson will likely continue to find himself in the starting lineup as the A¡¯s continue their assessment of the 25-year-old.?

¡°Cal¡¯s gonna get his opportunity,¡± Kotsay said. ¡°He¡¯s here for that reason. We¡¯ve got to take a good look at what he can do, both offensively and defensively. We¡¯re trying to get him as many at-bats as possible to evaluate that.¡±