George Springer keyed an outburst in the third inning before Alex Bregman sparked another in the eighth as the Houston Astros claimed the opener of a key three-game series with the visiting Oakland Athletics 11-4 on Monday at Minute Maid Park.

Houston extended its winning streak to six games and pushed its lead over the Athletics in the American League West to 2 1/2 games with two games remaining in the season series. The Astros did so by rallying from a 4-0 deficit and pouncing on Athletics left-hander Brett Anderson, who had allowed a total of two runs over four strong starts this month.

Anderson did not survive the third inning Monday.

Springer, back from a quad injury and making his first start since Aug. 19, bounced a grounder into the left field corner with one out, scoring Martin Maldonado from first base to ignite the rally.

Bregman and Jose Altuve followed with run-scoring doubles, and when Marwin Gonzalez added an RBI single that drove home Altuve, the Astros pulled even at 4-4 and chased Anderson (3-4) from the contest.

Anderson allowed five runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings, his shortest outing since May 18 at Toronto.

Tyler White capped the five-run frame by greeting Athletics reliever Yusmeiro Petit with an RBI single. In all, the Astros recorded a season-high-tying seven hits in the inning while sending 10 batters to the plate.

Bregman and White slugged three-run homers in the eighth, their 25th and ninth, respectively.

The Athletics were first to mount an ambush. Astros right-hander Gerrit Cole (12-5) hadn't allowed a home run since July 4 against the Texas Rangers, but with two outs in the second, Oakland shortstop Marcus Semien blasted a two-run shot off Cole that covered 408 feet to left. It was Semien's 11th homer.

An inning later, the Athletics doubled their lead to 4-0 with another two-run homer, this one from Matt Chapman. It marked his fourth home run in as many games and the 21st overall for Chapman.

Cole steadied himself and completed six innings, with his last frame including serving as a showcase of his tenacity. Clinging to a one-run lead, Cole surrendered a leadoff double to Chapman before bearing down. He induced a popup from Jed Lowrie and added consecutive strikeouts of Khris Davis and Matt Olson, running his total to eight strikeouts on the evening.

--Field Level Media