A’s smash their way back to top of AL West standings

Khris Davis hit a long home run after letting a young fan from the Make-A-Wish Foundation sign his jersey, Ramon Laureano hit the first two homers of his career, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 9-0 on Monday night.

And mere minutes after that game ended, the Seattle Mariners beat the Houston Astros 7-4 on Robinson Cano’s three-run homer in the eighth inning, meaning Oakland and Houston were tied again atop the American League West.

Davis’ shot for his 37th homer of the year was estimated at 438 feet and clanked off a window in the suite-level in left-center field. He did it wearing a uniform signed by 10-year-old Anthony Slocumb. The Oakland sixth-grader attended the game with a group from the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Davis asked him to sign his jersey before the game.

Laureano connected in the second and again in the sixth with a three-run shot that chased Bartolo Colon (7-11), the 45-year-old Rangers starter scratched a day earlier against the Angels because of back stiffness.

Stephen Piscotty homered in the seventh for Oakland.

Marcus Semien added an RBI double to back Mike Fiers (9-6) as Oakland began the day one game back of the Astros. The A’s took two of three during a weekend series against the reigning World Series champions to stay right on Houston’s heels in the AL West race, tying them for the division lead after Saturday’s win but slipping a game back when Houston won Sunday’s series finale.

Fiers allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked one over seven innings in his third start for the A’s, who have won the past five against the Rangers.

Colon was trying to win his third consecutive start after losing five in a row. He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings facing his former club.

Colon pitched in 2012-13 for the A’s, serving a 50-game suspension in ’12 after testing positive for testosterone.

Colon also pitched at the Coliseum in his Rangers debut on April 2.

Texas began a weeklong stay in the Bay Area with an interleague series set for this weekend against the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

Both teams squandered early chances, with the A’s having first and second with one out in the first and the Rangers first and second in the second with none out.

THE WEST RACE

The A’s are 7-3 during a current stretch playing 12 consecutive games and 19 of 23 vs. AL West opponents.

BELTRE FUTURE

Rangers star Adrian Beltre won’t decide until after the season, his 21st in the big leagues and the last year of a contract with Texas, what’s next.

He said he will evaluate how he is playing and whether he still believes he can perform at his best and compete with the young players.

“Everything on the baseball field, everything with my family, everything with how I feel mentally is going to be part of it,” Beltre said. “But I’m not going to make a decision until the season is over. Bring it all together and be at peace with which way I’m going to go. I might answer those questions, but I might not be truthful because I don’t know myself.