OAKLAND — When the Astros took two of three from the Mariners last weekend to move into a virtual tie for first place in the AL West, they came to Oakland looking to keep the momentum going. But the three-game set held some extra meaning for Jose Altuve.

“I told the guys, ‘Let’s enjoy here [for the] last time,'” he said.

With the A’s set to play in West Sacramento from 2025-27, before their planned relocation to Las Vegas, the Astros made their final trip to the Coliseum this week. Although the series began with deflating back-to-back losses, Hunter Brown played stopper and held the scorching-hot A’s to one run on eight hits, completing at least six innings for the 12th straight start in Wednesday afternoon’s 8-1 win.

The victory not only salvaged the last game of the series — but also secured Houston (53-49), which leads Seattle (53-51) by one game atop the division standings, some bragging rights in the storied ballpark’s record books.

Having gone 55-54 at the Coliseum, the Astros are the only AL club to post a winning all-time record there. The next closest, the Orioles (143-144), already visited the Coliseum this season, and no other team with a series remaining in Oakland is within reach.

The Astros first visited the Coliseum in 2002 as an NL club and were swept in three games. They did not return until ’13, when they joined the AL West, and were once again the victims of a three-game sweep in their first series in Oakland as division rivals.

But from 2015 on, the Astros have gone 49-38 at the Coliseum, posting a .500 record or better in every year except the pandemic-shortened ’20 campaign. That season also represented the only time since ’17 that they did not win the division.

“It hasn’t been easy any year coming here,” Altuve said. “They play great ball and they’ve got great fans, so that’s the biggest memory I’m going to take with me.”

Altuve put the finishing touches on an excellent career at the A’s longtime home, recording three hits, driving in a pair and reaching base four times in all. The veteran second baseman owns a .318/.369/.444 slash line in 90 games at the Coliseum.

Both he and Alex Bregman, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a walk, have played more road games at the Coliseum than any other ballpark.

It was top of mind for Bregman, whose 13 homers and 50 RBIs at the Coliseum both rank tops among Astros players, as he walked to the plate for the last time in the top of the ninth.

“I was like, ‘This is my last at-bat ever here,'” Bregman said. “It ended in a walk. I loved it. I hadn’t walked in a long time, so I couldn’t have been happier with that result. I need to start walking more, so it’s a good way to end.”

The final season of A’s baseball at the Coliseum has evoked nostalgia in home players and visitors alike, including Justin Verlander after dominating in the building for the last time in May.

Many referenced the A’s previous window of playoff contention, which lasted from 2018-21. Houston was unquestionably the dominant force in the division in that span, but Oakland made things competitive.

“We played in some really good games against the A’s here,” Bregman said, “back when [Matt] Chapman and [Matt] Olson, and guys like that were here, and … [Lou] Trivino and [Blake] Treinen at the back end of the bullpen. Those ’18, ’19, ’20 years were awesome.”

Astros manager Joe Espada, who was selected by the A’s in the second round of the 1996 MLB Draft, has connections to both the past and the future of his former organization.

Not only did Espada play at the Coliseum once in an exhibition game as a prospect, but he also took part in the first game at what is now Sutter Health Park, which opened on May 15, 2000, as a member of the A’s then-Triple-A affiliate.

Despite never reaching the Majors as a player, Espada still has fond memories of what the Coliseum represented to him.

“I remember walking in here and seeing where I wanted to get to,” Espada said. “This [was] our big league club, I’m in Triple-A, I’m one step away from playing here.”

Indeed, he made it to the Coliseum at the highest level of the game, even though it wasn’t as a big leaguer. And Espada’s club ensured that his final afternoon in the venue was one to remember.