Now that the Astros are back in first place in the American League West, how do they stay there?

Well, continuing to perform like they have against the rest of the division for the remainder of the season would probably get the job done. After beating the A’s, 8-4, on Thursday afternoon in Oakland for the seventh time in 10 meetings this year, the Astros (26-18) took over sole possession of first place.

“It’s always significant when you’re in first place,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “Had we lost this game today, we would have come in here half a game back and leave 1 1/2 games behind. We’ll take it at any point in time this season. Hopefully, we never relinquish first place. The guys are feeling it, they’re feeling good about themselves and we’re playing really good baseball, outside of a couple of mistakes. And we’re playing good defense.”

Astros third baseman Alex Bregman, who is 9-for-18 in his last five games, played it coy, saying it’s too early to look at the standings.

“We’ve got to keep our head down and stay focused and keep playing good baseball, and not look at the standings,” Bregman said. “Just show up ready to play every single day and compete and take that mentality.”

Houston, which has won 11 of its last 14 games, improved to 21-9 against the AL West this year. The Astros lead the division for the first time since they were in a first-place tie with the Angels on April 12, and they will now try to put some distance between themselves and A’s, who won the division title last year.

Oakland, which had spent 27 days alone in first place, has yet to play any team in the AL West other than Houston. The A's are 12-15 against teams with a winning record; the Astros are 12-7.

“You certainly have to win in your division,” Baker said.

On Thursday, Houston reached double-digit hits for the eighth time in its past 10 games, scoring three times in the third off Cole Irvin to take a 3-1 lead. Catcher Martín Maldonado ripped a two-run homer to right-center field in the fourth for a 5-1 lead as baseball’s highest-scoring offense (5.4 runs per game) chugged on.

The Astros’ offense has been nothing short of relentless recently, averaging 6.6 runs per game in the last 14 games. They’re slashing .315/.381/.509 with 22 homers in that span. Not surprisingly, second baseman Jose Altuve is on a 14-game hitting streak, during which he’s hitting .400 (24-for-60) with nine RBIs and eight walks.

“We know we’re a team that can hit,” Altuve said. “Each player is letting the other players do their jobs, and we’re playing as a team. I like the way we’re playing.”

Houston’s starting pitching has been solid, posting a 3.35 ERA in the last 14 games. The Astros should get left-hander Framber Valdez and right-hander Jake Odorizzi off the injured list in the next couple of weeks, which will provide added depth.

Perhaps the area where the Astros are most vulnerable is their bullpen, which has a 6.75 ERA in its last five games. Closer Ryan Pressly got a huge out to end the eighth inning Thursday by getting Tony Kemp to ground out with the bases loaded, but he’s been their only consistent arm.

“It’s always good to be in first place,” Altuve said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s too early. We’ve just got to continue to win some games.”