HOUSTON -- That Houston right-hander Collin McHugh was due for an excellent outing had as much to do with his competitive nature as it did with its timeliness relative to the Astros' ongoing postseason push.

McHugh worked eight strong innings while Astros left fielder Colby Rasmus smacked two home runs as the Houston Astros won the rubber match of their three-game series with the Oakland Athletics 5-1 Sunday at Minute Maid Park.

Rasmus bookended the Astros' scoring with homers in the second and eighth innings. Then, Astros right fielder George Springer lined a 2-2 slider from Athletics right-hander Aaron Brooks into the Crawford Boxes in left field with two outs in the fifth. The blast scored catcher Max Stassi, snapped a 1-1 deadlock, and lifted Houston (79-71) to a critical series win. For Springer, it was his 14th home run of the season and first since returning from a two-plus-month stay on the disabled list on Sept. 4.

"Slider just popped out of my hand," Brooks said. "Didn't break back down. Just floated in there. He took advantage of it."

McHugh (17-7) bounced back from a pair of subpar outings against the Athletics and Rangers, limiting Oakland to one run on four hits and two walks while notching eight strikeouts. He surrendered a two-out RBI double to Athletics shortstop Marcus Semien in the second inning but recovered to retire 14 of 15 batters before facing a jam in the seventh.

With Semien, who walked in his second plate appearance, at the plate and two runners in scoring position, McHugh rallied with an inning-ending strikeout to strand Stephen Vogt and Jake Smolinski at second and third base, respectively. McHugh returned in the eighth and retired the Athletics in order to close his 113-pitch outing with a flourish.

"It's a lot better than the last couple of outings, that's for sure," McHugh said. "Commanded well, made some big pitches in big situations when I needed to.

"At this point in the season you're running on adrenaline. So it doesn't really matter, your pitch count is kind of irrelevant at this point. So when you're rolling and you feel good and you want to execute pitches, you've just got to go out there and do it, no matter what inning it is, no matter how deep in the game it is. Was able to do that and it felt good."

Rasmus erased the Athletics' 1-0 lead with his solo home run off Brooks (2-4) in the second inning, a line drive off the right-field foul pole. Rasmus added his 21st home run on the season in the eighth off Athletics left-hander Barry Zito, a two-run shot, and recorded his sixth career multi-homer game in the process.

"It felt great," said Rasmus, who finished 2-for-4 with three RBIs. "Any time you can help your team in a situation like that where we're getting down to the nitty-gritty trying to put some wins on the board to get back at the Rangers it's a great feeling, and I feel blessed to be able to do that."

While the Astros extended their lead for the second wild card in the American League to 2 1/2 games over the Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota Twins, the Athletics (64-86) dropped the season series to Houston 10-9 due in large part to their inability to solve McHugh.

"He pitched us a little bit differently this time," Athletics manager Bob Melvin said of McHugh. "Threw probably a lot more fastballs than we've seen in the past of him. It's usually a lot of slider, cutters and curveballs. I think the first six pitches of the game were heaters. He pitched a little bit differently, then next time around, mixed it up a little bit more with the curveball and the slider. He was on his game today."

NOTES: Athletics DH Stephen Vogt returned to the lineup for the first time since Sept. 6 after being sidelined by a groin injury. Vogt was batting .500 (11-for-22) over his last seven games prior to the injury and .400 (16-for-40) with three doubles, one triple and two home runs over his previous 12 games. ... Astros IF Marwin Gonzalez was available as a right-handed pinch hitter on Saturday night and will remain in that role as he battles soreness in his left index finger, left thumb and left wrist. Gonzalez, a switch-hitter, can better manage his discomfort batting right-handed. ... The A's selected C Bryan Anderson from Triple-A Nashville to supplement their depth at backstop. With Stephen Vogt nursing a groin injury and Josh Phegley sidelined by a concussion, Carson Blair was the only healthy catcher on the Oakland roster.