OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Athletics are in sole possession of first place in the AL West for the first time in more than a month. Its just not that big of a deal to Josh Donaldson. Donaldson had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and the As beat the Houston Astros 7-5 on Friday night to jump ahead of Texas in the division. Jed Lowrie added two hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which has won six of eight. Yoenis Cespedes and Nate Freiman had two hits apiece. The As grabbed a half-game lead over the Rangers, who lost 6-5 at the Los Angeles Angels. But it was around this time last year that Oakland began its late push to overtake Texas for the division crown. "It doesnt matter until the end of the season, we know that too well," Donaldson said. "Were really not trying to focus on it right now. Were trying to take care of our business." A.J. Griffin (13-9) gave up four runs over six innings but matched his career high of nine strikeouts to win his third straight decision. Matt Dominguez drove in a pair of runs for Houston after sitting out the past three games with a sinus infection. The As trailed 3-1 and 4-3 before scoring twice in the fourth on Lowries RBI single and a groundout by Cespedes. Donaldson doubled and scored in the third, and then singled and scored in the fourth. But his big blow came in the sixth, a towering drive to centre against reliever Phil Humber that gave Oakland a 7-4 lead. Donaldson went 3 for 5 and is batting .349 with two homers and nine RBIs in 17 games this season against major league-worst Houston (47-94). Eight of the As nine starters had at least one hit, and five different players drove in runs. "That shows that we have multiple ways that we can score runs," Donaldson said. "Thats what it takes. If youre going to score seven, eight runs, its not all the time going to come by the long ball. Its going to come by guys manufacturing and having good approaches at the plate." Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook combined to retire six batters, and Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his 37th save. The Astros, who had won three of the previous four games in the season series, got the tying run on base in the ninth after an error by second baseman Eric Sogard allowed Jonathan Villar to score. Balfour got Jason Castro to ground into a fielders choice, and then fanned Dominguez to end the game. "The at-bats were tremendous, especially in the ninth inning," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "I really felt like Dominguez was going to get a base hit there. Its unfortunate we came up short." It was an appropriate end to the back-and-forth contest. Houston scored three times in the third to open a 3-1 lead. Dominguez had a two-run single and Jose Altuve also drove in a run with a base hit. Oakland tied it in the bottom half when Lowrie doubled in Donaldson and scored on Freimans single. Villar drove in Brett Wallace with a bunt single in the fourth, putting the Astros back in front. The lead didnt last very long, with Oakland going in front for good in the bottom half. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel (5-9) struggled in his third start against the As this season, allowing 10 hits and five runs in just 3 2-3 innings. He was hurt by his defence. Left fielder Chris Carter dropped Brandon Moss routine fly ball in the sixth. First baseman Wallace later dropped a foul ball in the eighth for another error. NOTES: As CF Coco Crisp has an extra-base hit in seven consecutive games, the longest streak by an Oakland player since 2003. ... Villar finished with three hits. ... Houston CF Brandon Barnes was ejected in the sixth inning after arguing with home plate umpire Alan Porter from the Astros dugout. Barnes appeared to get hit by a pitch from Griffin earlier in the inning but Porter ruled otherwise. Barnes then struck out. ... Castro (right knee) was back in the Houston lineup as the DH after missing three games. Bo Porter did not know when Castro would be able to catch again. ... As RF Josh Reddick (right wrist) is expected to take batting practice on the field Tuesday in Minnesota. ... Brett Oberholtzer (4-1), coming off Houstons first shutout of the season, takes on Dan Straily (8-7) in the third game of the series. Travis Sanheim Jersey . New York (16-9-8) took over first place in the Eastern Conference and has the best record in the league with one game remaining. Houstons five-game unbeaten streak was snapped, and the Dynamo (13-11-9) are sixth in the East with one game remaining. Claude Giroux Flyers Jersey . Chris Capuano. Shane Greene. And now, Esmil Rogers. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/bobby-clarke-jersey/ . A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. Ron Hextall Flyers Jersey . LOUIS -- Julius Randle had 19 points and 15 rebounds, Aaron Harrison finished with 18 points and No. Robert Hagg Jersey ." Those traits were clear to the 24,071 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday as the Impact dominated the scoring chances but settled for a 2-2 draw with the New York Red Bulls in a battle of still-winless Major League Soccer teams.(SportsNetwork.com) - The Dallas Mavericks go for their first winning streak of the season when they invade the Big Easy Saturday night for a showdown with the New Orleans Pelicans. Dallas kicked off the season with Tuesdays 101-100 loss to the defending champion San Antonio Spurs, as Tony Parker finished with 23 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with just over a minute left. Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki scored 26 and 18 points, respectively, in that one for Dallas. The Mavericks got back to work Thursday in a 120-102 home-opening victory over the Utah Jazz and both Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons scored 21 points. Al- Farouq Aminu ended with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Ellis and Brandan Wright scored 14 points apiece. We were moving the ball, Parsons said. Our spacing was unbelievable. One game after shooting 48.7 percent against the Spurs, the Mavs made 55.3 percent from the floor and scored 23 points off 16 Utah turnovers. New Orleans opened its season with a 101-84 beatdown of the Orlando Magic. Much is expected from the Pelicans this season and their star big man, Anthony Davis. Davis was a monster against the MMagic, finishing one block shy of a triple- double with 26 points and 17 rebounds.dddddddddddd Omer Asik, acquired in an offseason trade with Houston, posted 14 points, 17 boards and five swats for the Pelicans, who had 17 blocks and a 62-56 advantage on the boards. The Pelicans scored 27 points off 18 Orlando turnovers. Ryan Anderson scored 22 points and Tyreke Evans added 12 in the win. I just feel good about the win, Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. Ill have to look at the film and see the things that we did well. Obviously, we got a lot of stuff to get better at. I like the fact that we rebounded the ball so well tonight. Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday received stitches over his right eye following a collision with Magic guard Elfrid Payton in the third quarter. Holiday should be ready to go for Saturday. Dallas won all four meetings with New Orleans last season and is unbeaten in the past seven matchups between the teams. Nowitzki averaged 25.8 ppg in four starts against the Pelicans last season. The Mavs are unbeaten in their last four trips to the Big Easy and have a 32-11 record in the all-time series. ' ' '