ARLINGTON -- Much of the A’s success this year has been built on the strength of a starting rotation that has emerged as one of baseball’s best, with Sean Manaea leading the way at the top as a co-anchor alongside Chris Bassitt. Those two have been largely responsible for why Oakland entered Sunday leading the Majors in starters’ innings pitched and third in ERA.

Midway through August with the A's continuing to hold the best record (9-3) in the Majors this month, Sunday’s 7-4 loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field saw a few positive trends continue. Coming off a monster two-homer performance the night before, Matt Chapman continued his offensive uptick by smacking another solo shot as part of a three-hit game. There was also Starling Marte, who remained one of the league’s hottest hitters since joining the A’s by extending his hitting streak to 13 games.

Manaea, however, continues to trend in the wrong direction.

Whereas most of the A’s roster has been on the upswing over the past few weeks, Manaea’s struggles have only grown over that same period. Against Texas, the left-hander gave up season highs in runs (seven) and home runs (three) across five innings. After allowing just 15 runs in the span of 10 starts (62 innings pitched) from June 2-July 28, Manaea has combined to match that run total over his last three starts with just 11 innings pitched.

“It was just some long balls that got him today and accounted for almost everything,” manager Bob Melvin said. “You’re never going to be perfect. This is a tough stretch for him. A lot of guys go through tough stretches. He’s going to have to pitch his way out.”

Manaea’s numbers heading into mid-July led to many labeling him an All-Star snub. He went into the break carrying a 3.19 ERA with 108 strikeouts in 104 1/3 innings. Given the success for most of the season, Manaea’s ongoing rough stretch to start the month, which saw him turn in his shortest outing of the season earlier in the week against Cleveland, could be viewed as just that -- a rough patch. But for the A’s to make a deep postseason run like they envision, they sure could use Manaea back to his early-season form.

Based on what Melvin saw this time out from Manaea, it might not be too long before that happens, even with the final line not looking so great.

“I think today was a little different,” Melvin added. “[The issue] was more his command the last couple times. I thought he was better today. Looked like there was a little bit more life. Only one walk. Obviously, the home run ball bit him a little bit. They took advantage of mistakes.”

Two batters into his start on Sunday, Manaea had already given up his first run on a double by Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Later in the inning, he was then ambushed by DJ Peters, who crushed the first of his two homers against Manaea on a first-pitch changeup left over the middle of the zone for a two-run shot.

Manaea only had one clean inning, quickly retiring all three batters he faced in the fourth. All four of his other innings pitched saw him allow at least one run.

“I was just throwing stuff down the middle,” Manaea said. “I don’t think there’s one specific thing to point to. Last game, I wasn’t able to really throw strikes. Today, I just gave up home runs.”

Despite Manaea’s scuffles, the A’s still managed to fight their way to a competitive game until the end. Mark Canha, who broke a career-high 40-game homerless streak with a solo blast in the sixth, drew a two-out walk in the ninth that brought Marte to the plate as the tying run. Marte connected hard on a fastball from right-hander Joe Barlow, but the deep drive to left fell about 15 feet shy of a game-tying blast.

Even as they dropped two of three in Texas, the continued offensive success -- the A’s entered the day tied for second-highest team batting average (.283) in the Majors in August -- provides some positive momentum as they head for Chicago to close out on a 10-game road trip with a four-game set against the White Sox that begins on Monday.

“Sometimes it’s only an at-bat or two that things click in,” Melvin said. "Chapman is swinging a lot better. Those are encouraging signs. Obviously, we want to win the game today. But some of the guys who may not have been swinging their best seem to be putting better swings on it.”