This Oakland A’s had their first seven-inning, double-header experience Saturday against the Houston Astros. It didn’t go well.

They dropped both at Minute Maid Park in Houston, scoring a collective five runs over 14 innings against two of the game’s toughest pitchers.

The A’s started the day 4.5 games up on the Astros in the American League West and ended it just 2.5 games up.

Marcus Semien getting MRI

Marcus Semien played in the first game, but was a late scratch for the second, which snaps a 276-game stretch in which the shortstop had started a game. Between games, the A’s ironman experienced some left side soreness, manager Bob Melvin said. He had an MRI that afternoon and the team will know more about the results Sunday.

Vimael Machín moved to third base and Matt Chapman played shortstop.

“We had to scramble a little bit,” Melvin said. “Chapman hadn’t played short in some time, we get it done how we can, but that’s a tough one for us.”

The two losses on top of losing Semien stung.

“We don’t want to lose two games,” Melvin said. “We lost our shortstop today. It’s not a great feeling.”

Chad Pinder, on paternity leave, isn’t expected to return until the upcoming series in Seattle. Until he can slide into an infield role (he can play them all), expect Chapman at short and Machín to reprise their new roles.

Streak snapped

Yuli Gurriel’s sac fly off Joakim Soria in the sixth inning of the second game snapped the A’s bullpen’s scoreless streak at 29 1/3 innings, a streak that spanned eight games.

Game 1 

The A’s played and lost, 4-2, their first seven-inning game in Saturday’s double-header. They wouldn’t get the privilege of opening up the opposing team’s bullpen. This one was nearly all Lance McCullers Jr. He had the A’s whiffing and staring at a filthy array of knuckle curveballs, sinkers and a ton of changeups that appeared interchangeable with his sinker.

“McCuller has been tough on us before,” Melvin said after the game. “He very rarely gives you a fastball to hit. A lot of breaking balls in fastball counts, lot more changeups to right handers than we’ve seen in the past.”

McCullers pitches with a 63% ground ball rate — all that downward movement kept the A’s homer-happy offense out of the air. Ramón Laureano bounced back from a slump with a 2-for-3 game. Mark Canha, who drew a walk with two outs in the second inning, tried to score from first base on Laureano’s double in the second inning. He was called out on the bang-bang play, and the call stood following an A’s challenge.

The A’s manufactured a run off Robbie Grossman’s leadoff double in the third. Stephen Piscotty singled up the middle to put runners on the corners. Astros third baseman Jack Mayfield chose an easy out at first on Matt Chapman’s chopper down the third base line, which scored Grossman. In the sixth inning, Chapman would get the A’s second RBI on a slap-single to score Grossman, who’d reached third on a soft ground ball that McCullers air-mailed into foul territory.

Chris Bassitt was on ice for a few days. The A’s right-hander had been scheduled to start first in Thursday’s series finale against the Texas Rangers. Oakland chose not to play in a protest against racial injustice sparked by video of police shooting Jacob Blake. The A’s obliged the Astros in their protest and game postponement on Jackie Robinson Day on Friday.

So, a few days late, Bassitt finally took the mound and had his shortest start of his season. He couldn’t find his best fastball command, which resulted in a three-inning, four-run day in which he allowed two home runs. Kyle Tucker’s three-run homer with two outs in the first inning set the tone. Josh Reddick’s solo blast in the fourth inning gave way to Bassitt’s second walk allowed and a single.

“Just a little off with his command,” Melvin said.

In a nine-inning game, Bassitt might’ve had the line to escape that fourth-inning jam. But, in a seven-inning one, it was manager Bob Melvin’s cue to reel Bassitt out of the game.

Lou Trivino rode the wave, retiring the side in order and another scoreless fifth inning. He’d been struggling with keeping inherited runners on base — he’d allowed three of the last four he’d inherited score — so this was a positive step as Trivino looks to regain his 2018 form.

Game 2

For the second game, the Astros rotation switched from off-speed finesse to their consistent dart thrower. The A’s had their familiar struggles against Zack Greinke in Game 2, losing 6-3.

The A’s lost, but they were responsible for some baseball oddities dictated by a lineup shakeup.

With Semien a late scratch, Laureano batted atop the lineup and promptly hit a leadoff home run. His fourth home run of the season snapped Greinke’s 45 2/3-inning streak without allowing a home run. It was also the first leadoff homer Greinke allowed since Manuel Margot took him deep on April 14, 2019 — a rarity that has happened just four other times in Greinke’s 17-year career.

The Semien scratch also had Matt Chapman play at shortstop for the first time in his big league career. Chapman’s home run off Greinke in the fourth inning came off the bat at 115.9 mph. Not only is that the hardest hit ball an A’s player has hit in the Statcast era (since 2015), it’s the hardest hit ball by a shortstop in the Statcast era, too. If Chapman had been playing third base, it would have been the hardest hit home run by a third baseman this year (San Diego’s Manny Machado hit one 115.7). But it wouldn’t have been the hardest hit by a third baseman in the Statcast era; Joey Gallo hit a home run 117.3 mph in 2017.

The A’s won the oddity battle, but they lost the game. Tommy La Stella made his A’s debut and flashed a bit of his value. With runners in scoring position and one out in the fifth inning, La Stella grounded out, Vimael Machin scored. That’s the kind of situational hitting the A’s will need to utilize more down the stretch.

Frankie Montas struggled with his mechanics again and looked to be overthrowing some of his pitches. He said he feels better starts will come when he can improve his location. The Astros tacked five runs on him before the third inning on Tucker’s bases-loaded triple and George Springer’s two-run home run.

He exited after completing just 3 1/3 innings with five earned runs, five strikeouts and two walks.