HOUSTON -- Sam Fuld hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Oakland Athletics a 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night. The As trailed by one entering the ninth before Eric Sogards RBI single, and Fulds two-out shot off Chad Qualls (1-4) landed in the seats in right field to put Oakland up 5-3. Fuld, who entered on a 0-for-9 skid, finished three hits, including a double. Oakland began the night one game behind the Los Angeles Angels for the AL West lead. The As have won five of eight following a five-game losing streak. Dan Otero (8-1) pitched 1 1-3 innings for the win. Eric OFlaherty allowed a solo homer to Chris Carter with two outs in the ninth before retiring Dexter Fowler for his first save since May 2013. Houston trailed 2-1 in the seventh after Coco Crisps solo home run in the top of the inning, then tied it on Robbie Grossmans RBI single. Altuves big league-leading 181st hit put Houston on top 3-2. The groundball single rolled just out of reach of a diving Alberto Callaspo and into shallow right field. Altuve also swiped two bases, giving him an AL-high 49 steals. Jonny Gomes sacrifice fly put Oakland ahead1-0 in the sixth. Oakland starter Drew Pomeranz, recalled from Triple-A Sacramento before the game, allowed one run -- none earned -- and three hits in 5 1-3 innings in his first major league appearance since June 16. He struck out seven. Houstons Brad Peacock also lasted 5 1-3 innings, yielding one run, four hits and five walks. Carter has 33 homers this season, has homered in three straight games and has hit 20 home runs since July 1. TRAINERS ROOM Athletics: Manager Bob Melvin said he expects SS Jed Lowrie (broken right index finger) to be ready for an injury rehabilitation assignment this weekend if there are no issues the next two days. INF Nick Punto (hamstring) is getting better but is behind Lowrie because he still isnt able to run at full speed. Astros: Reliever Darin Downs (strained muscle on his right side) is to start a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi on Friday and is expected to pitch there on Sunday. UP NEXT The Astros open a four-game series against Texas on Thursday, with Collin McHugh scheduled to pitch against Nick Tepesch. Oakland travels to start a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels. Sonny Gray opposes C.J. Wilson in the opener on Thursday. Trey Burke Jersey . -- The Los Angeles Dodgers signed Cuban shortstop Erisbel Arruebarrena to a $25 million, five-year contract Saturday. Tim Hardaway Jr. Jersey . They were right in that they responded to coach Randy Carlyles goaltending switch to erase a two-goal deficit. http://www.knickssale.com/kids-mitchell-...-knicks-jersey/. The Canadian skicross racer appeared to have the bronze medal locked up in the mens final at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, only to wipe out while trying to make a pass in the biggest moment of his career. Frank Ntilikina Jersey . - Jesse Shynkaruk scored a hat trick as the Moose Jaw Warriors snapped a seven-game losing streak with an 8-2 win over the Prince Albert Raiders in Western Hockey League action on Saturday. Walt Frazier Jersey . The triple gold medallist from the 2010 Paralympics tweeted on Tuesday: "Woke up with a virus yesterday. Timing couldnt be much worse. Not the ideal prep for the . SUNRISE, Fla. -- Radim Vrbata is peaking at the right time. Vrbata had a goal and two assists to lead the Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-1 victory over the Florida Panthers on Tuesday night. Vrbata also had the lone shootout goal in Mondays 4-3 win at Tampa Bay. Vrbata is second on the team with 19 goals, trailing Antoine Vermette at 22, and has six points in the last four games. "When the puck is finding the back of the net for him, it just seems like hes got that extra step," Phoenix coach Dave Tippett said. Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Mike Ribeiro also scored for the Coyotes. Mike Smith made 31 saves. "Sometimes we struggle to score goals, we need our goal scorers to be putting the puck in the net," Smith said. "Vrby has played well as of late." Phoenix won its second consecutive road game for the first time since Nov. 27 and Dec. 3. The Coyotes are one point behind Dallas for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference. Brandon Pirri scored and Roberto Luongo stopped 23 shots for the Panthers. Florida has lost 10 of 13. The Panthers have only six goals in the last four games. Phoenix opened a 3-0 lead when Vrbata scored at 5:52 of the third. Vermette fed Vrbata in the right circle and he sent a wrist shot into an open net. "You score that one and you start feeling good about yourself," Vrbata said. "You get a couple of lucky bounces." The Panthers closed to 3-1 on Pirris power-play goal at 8:54 of the third. Pirris shot from high in the right circle touched several Coyotes players sticks and went over Smiths glove high in the net. It was Pirris first goal with Florida since he was acquired in a tradee with the Chicago Blackhawks on March 2.dddddddddddd Smith had been stellar before Pirris goal. "Where we are in the standings and the desperation we should be playing with, your goaltender has to take a big part of that," Tippett said. "But its great to see everybody else chip in." The back-to-back games appeared to have little effect on Phoenix. "They played last night. I think we jumped on them early on," Panthers captain Ed Jovanovski said. "We had our chances, we just couldnt solve their goalie." The Coyotes took a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal in the first. Ribeiro fired a one-timer from above the right circle that got past Luongo on the glove side at 17:43. Keith Yandle got the assist and leads the Coyotes with 45 points. He has seven points in his last seven games. The Coyotes scored again in the second. Ekman-Larsson shot from just inside the blue line on the left side and it went by a screened Luongo at 9:43. "Theyre a very disciplined team, theyre patient, they wait for the other team to make mistakes and obviously theyre fighting for a playoff spot right now, every game is important to them," Luongo said. "We saw that desperation tonight, guys blocking shot, and finding the net. They did whatever it took to win." NOTES: Coyotes F Martin Erat left in the first period with an upper-body injury. ... Panthers L Sean Bergenheim left in the second period with a lower-body injury. ... The Panthers recalled F Joey Crabb and D Mike Mottau from San Antonio of the AHL. ... Panthers D Erik Gudbranson and C Jesse Winchester each missed the game with lower-body injuries. 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