HOUSTON -- The A’s began their game with the Astros on Thursday at Minute Maid Park largely the same way they did the other two games -- they were aggressive, pounced early in counts and jumped out to a quick lead.

Only this time, those early runs held up, and that’s where it was different. Instead of dealing with another series of missed opportunities, the A’s, behind the strength of starting pitcher Frankie Montas’ 10 strikeouts, turned a slim margin into a win, topping Houston, 2-1.

Montas fell one strikeout shy of tying his season high and was three short of his career high of 13, which he reached in his final start of the 2020 season against the Mariners. It was the fifth time in his career that he's recorded double digits in strikeouts.

“I was just trying to get outs, get quick outs,” Montas said. “Throw your stuff, trust it, let them hit it. I feel like that was a big part for me today -- just throw strikes, let them swing.”

Montas’ masterful outing -- largely due to a perfect complement of sinkers and split-fingered fastballs -- saved the A’s from falling back into the trappings of their first two games in Houston, where they struggled to generate any offense late in games after giving away their advantage.

That was still an issue in Thursday’s finale, but it didn’t matter. By the time Montas finished the second inning, it was clear nothing would upstage his effort on the mound.

By the end of the sixth, Montas had thrown first-pitch strikes to all but two Houston batters. Nearly 30 percent of his pitches were splitters, a huge increase over the 17.8 percent he had been averaging this season.

“When I saw that they were swinging -- even at the ones I was bouncing, they were swinging at it -- I was like, 'Well, I’m just going to use it.'" Montas said. “We’ve got nine guys out there. You have to hit it at somebody.”

Backup catcher Aramis Garcia, who had only caught Montas once prior to this game, had an inkling Montas’ splitter was going to be something special in this start. He sensed it with Montas’ final two warmup tosses in the bullpen, and he encouraged his pitcher to lean on it.

“We were just walking back to the dugout, and I was just talking to him about if he could just figure out a way to get consistent with the way he threw those last two splitters in the bullpen, I think we're going to be in good shape,” Garcia said. “He threw this splitter better than he has all year. It has perfect depth, perfect where he started in, and where it was ending. And I thought he did an awesome job with it.”

Montas struck out the side in the first inning and had seven strikeouts through three. The top of the Astros’ order -- perhaps the strongest one through four in baseball -- went 0-for-12 against him. Yordan Alvarez, whose clutch hitting was largely responsible for the Astros’ comebacks in the first two games, struck out twice against Montas.

“Whenever you're carving through a lineup like that, and you're doing well, you're going to look confident,” manager Bob Melvin said. “I think he's made some tweaks on how he's throwing certain pitches, but I think he's trying to go out there and pitch his game and then get on a little bit of a roll and kind of ride the momentum that you get from getting consistent outs.”

Montas did not allow an extra-base hit until the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back doubles to Kyle Tucker and Chas McCormick, which cut the lead in half.

Only this time the A’s light offense didn’t cost them, and the win prevented them from sinking further in the division. The win moved the A’s (50-39) back to 4 1/2 games behind the Astros (54-34) in the American League West.

“I think this game was a must-win,” Garcia said. “And we got the job done today.”