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OAKLAND, Calif. - The Oakland Athletics are in sole possession of first place in the AL West for the first time in more than a month. Its just not that big of a deal to Josh Donaldson. Donaldson had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning, and the As beat the Houston Astros 7-5 on Friday night to jump ahead of Texas in the division. Jed Lowrie added two hits and two RBIs for Oakland, which has won six of eight. Yoenis Cespedes and Nate Freiman had two hits apiece. The As grabbed a half-game lead over the Rangers, who lost 6-5 at the Los Angeles Angels. But it was around this time last year that Oakland began its late push to overtake Texas for the division crown. "It doesnt matter until the end of the season, we know that too well," Donaldson said. "Were really not trying to focus on it right now. Were trying to take care of our business." A.J. Griffin (13-9) gave up four runs over six innings but matched his career high of nine strikeouts to win his third straight decision. Matt Dominguez drove in a pair of runs for Houston after sitting out the past three games with a sinus infection. The As trailed 3-1 and 4-3 before scoring twice in the fourth on Lowries RBI single and a groundout by Cespedes. Donaldson doubled and scored in the third, and then singled and scored in the fourth. But his big blow came in the sixth, a towering drive to centre against reliever Phil Humber that gave Oakland a 7-4 lead. Donaldson went 3 for 5 and is batting .349 with two homers and nine RBIs in 17 games this season against major league-worst Houston (47-94). Eight of the As nine starters had at least one hit, and five different players drove in runs. "That shows that we have multiple ways that we can score runs," Donaldson said. "Thats what it takes. If youre going to score seven, eight runs, its not all the time going to come by the long ball. Its going to come by guys manufacturing and having good approaches at the plate." Sean Doolittle and Ryan Cook combined to retire six batters, and Grant Balfour worked the ninth for his 37th save. The Astros, who had won three of the previous four games in the season series, got the tying run on base in the ninth after an error by second baseman Eric Sogard allowed Jonathan Villar to score. Balfour got Jason Castro to ground into a fielders choice, and then fanned Dominguez to end the game. "The at-bats were tremendous, especially in the ninth inning," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "I really felt like Dominguez was going to get a base hit there. Its unfortunate we came up short." It was an appropriate end to the back-and-forth contest. Houston scored three times in the third to open a 3-1 lead. Dominguez had a two-run single and Jose Altuve also drove in a run with a base hit. Oakland tied it in the bottom half when Lowrie doubled in Donaldson and scored on Freimans single. Villar drove in Brett Wallace with a bunt single in the fourth, putting the Astros back in front. The lead didnt last very long, with Oakland going in front for good in the bottom half. Houston starter Dallas Keuchel (5-9) struggled in his third start against the As this season, allowing 10 hits and five runs in just 3 2-3 innings. He was hurt by his defence. Left fielder Chris Carter dropped Brandon Moss routine fly ball in the sixth. First baseman Wallace later dropped a foul ball in the eighth for another error. NOTES: As CF Coco Crisp has an extra-base hit in seven consecutive games, the longest streak by an Oakland player since 2003. ... Villar finished with three hits. ... Houston CF Brandon Barnes was ejected in the sixth inning after arguing with home plate umpire Alan Porter from the Astros dugout. Barnes appeared to get hit by a pitch from Griffin earlier in the inning but Porter ruled otherwise. Barnes then struck out. ... Castro (right knee) was back in the Houston lineup as the DH after missing three games. Bo Porter did not know when Castro would be able to catch again. ... As RF Josh Reddick (right wrist) is expected to take batting practice on the field Tuesday in Minnesota. ... Brett Oberholtzer (4-1), coming off Houstons first shutout of the season, takes on Dan Straily (8-7) in the third game of the series. Duncan Keith Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. 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Her hard-hitting opponent, Victoria Azarenka, was presenting problems, and so was the gusting wind. A couple of foot-fault calls added to the angst. As a jittery Williams headed to the sideline after dropping a set for the first time in the tournament, she chucked her racket, which ricocheted onto the court. When play resumed, in the crucible of a third set, Williams put aside everything and did what she does best: She came through in the clutch to win a major match. Facing her only test of the past two weeks, the No. 1-seeded Williams overcame No. 2 Azarenka 7-5, 6-7 (6), 6-1 on Sunday for her 17th Grand Slam championship. "When youre always trying to write history, or join history in my case, maybe you just get a little more nervous than you should. I also think its kind of cool, because it means that it means a lot to you. It means a lot to me, this trophy," Williams said, pointing her right hand at her fifth silver cup from the U.S. Open, "and every single trophy that I have." That collection keeps growing. Williams has won twice in a row at Flushing Meadows -- beating Azarenka in three sets each time -- and four of the past six major tournaments overall. Her 17 titles are the sixth-most in history for a woman, only one behind Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert, and the same total as the mens record-holder, Roger Federer. "It feels really good to be in that same league as him," said Williams, who earned $3.6 million in prize money. This one did not come easily, even though it appeared to be nearly over when Williams went ahead by two breaks at 4-1 in the second set. She served for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 -- only to have the gutsy Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open winner, break each time. Williams is 67-4 with a career-high nine titles in 2013, but two of those losses came against Azarenka. A year ago, they played the first three-set womens final in New York since 1995. This time, they went the distance again, a total of 2 hours, 45 minutes, because Azarenka was superior in the tiebreaker. "I got a little uptight, which probably wasnt the best thing at that moment," Williams said. "I wasnt playing very smart tennis then, so I just had to relax and not do that again." So after the second set, Williams gave herself a pep talk. She regrouped and regained control. "In the third set, Serena really found a way to calm down and restart from zero and quickly erase what happened," said her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. Azarenka helped a bit, with two of her seven double-faults coming when she got broken to trail 3-1 in the third. That pretty much sealed it, because Williams was not about to falter again. "Shes a champion, and she knows how to repeat that. She knows what it takes to get there. I know that feeling, too. And when two people who want that feeling so bad meet, its like a clash," Azarenka said, pounding her fists together. At the outset, though, the 15 mph wind that swirled in Arthur Ashe Stadium bothered Williams as much as Azarenka did. "It wasnt pleasant," Azarenka said. Williams caught service tosses. She grabbed at her skirt to keep it from flying up. Most troubling, she was thrown off by balls that danced oddly. Six off the first 16 points ended with unforced errors by Williams, which allowed Azarenka to go ahead 2-1.dddddddddddd. Looking hesitant at times, Williams did not show the same dominance she had while dropping only 16 games during six victories through the semifinals. "The wind was unbelievable today," Williams said. "It just got worse and worse. It just never let up." She needed to adjust, and she did. Her serve, as usual, made a big difference: Williams hit nine aces, one at 126 mph. Still, four times, Azarenka was only two points from taking the opening set. At one such moment, with Williams serving at deuce after a double-fault, she was called for a foot fault, erasing what would have been a 121 mph ace. There was another foot-fault call in the second set, too. They brought back memories of the Americans loss to Kim Clijsters in the 2009 semifinals, when Williams was docked a point, and later fined, for a tirade against a line judge over a foot-fault call. There was no such outburst directed at officials this time, although there was that racket toss. After the call in the matchs 10th game, Williams simply put a hand to her face, composed herself, and won the point with a down-the-line backhand she celebrated with a fist pump, some foot stomping and a yell of "Come on!" Williams wound up holding there with a 104 mph ace, part of what seemed to be a match-altering stretch. She won five consecutive games and 16 of 18 points to take the first set and go up a break in the second. "You could see she clicked," Mouratoglou said. "She realized she was not aggressive enough. She was letting Vika dictate too much, and all of a sudden, things completely changed." Well, at least for a while. Azarenka did manage to make competitive again, which shouldnt surprise anyone. She was, after all, 31-1 on hard courts entering Sunday, including a victory over Williams last month at Mason, Ohio. But when it came time to close the deal yet again, Williams shined. She delivered six of the third sets eight winners and forced Azarenka into 15 miscues. Soon enough, Williams was hopping up and down after finishing with a service winner. She kept pumping her fist afterward, even while sipping from a water bottle. "She really made it happen," Azarenka said. "In that particular moment, she was tougher today. She was more consistent, and she deserved to win." Williams became the first woman to surpass $9 million in prize money in a single season, while topping $50 million for her career. She also equaled Steffi Graf with five U.S. Open titles, one behind Everts record of six in the Open era, which began in 1968. Williams never had won two consecutive U.S. Opens, but now she has, adding to the trophies she earned in New York in 1999 -- at age 17 -- then 2002 and 2008. Those go alongside five from Wimbledon, five from the Australian Open, and two from the French Open, which she won this year. "Being older, its always awesome and such a great honour, because I dont know if Ill ever win another Grand Slam. Obviously I hope so," said Williams, who turns 32 on Sept. 26. "Its different now, because when I won earlier, it was just one or two or three or four. Now its like 16, 17. It has more meaning (for) history, as opposed to just winning a few." 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