HOUSTON -- That it required something spectacular for Oakland Athletics to snap their four-game losing skid should come as no surprise given their recent run of misfortune, but at this stage, the A's will take a victory any way they can secure it.

Three Oakland relievers combined to work 4 2/3 hitless innings, and center fielder Sam Fuld delivered a marvelous defensive play as the Athletics squeezed out a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Monday night at Minute Maid Park.

Right-handers Edward Mujica (2-1), Evan Scribner, and Tyler Clippard worked in tandem to shut down the red-hot Astros, who had their five-game winning streak snapped when Clippard notched his fourth save of the season with a perfect ninth inning.

"It was huge for the bullpen. It was huge for the team," Clippard said. "We made some big defensive plays when we needed to that we haven't been making. Mujica came in there and got us out of a jam. Scribs was lights out tonight, and we won a one-run game. Everything that we hadn't been doing, we did tonight. We proved to ourselves that we can do it, and that was exactly what we needed."

Scribner retired the Astros in order in the seventh and eighth and was the beneficiary of a dynamic running catch from Fuld leading off his final inning.

Fuld snagged a scorching line drive off the bat of Astros right fielder George Springer, tracking the ball up Tal's Hill in center field before making a juggling grab an estimated 426 feet from home plate.

"Amazing because when (Springer) hit it I didn't think (Fuld) had a chance at it," Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. "Now you've got to dodge the hill and a water hazard and a sand trap and everything else out there to catch it and then hang on to it.

"It looked like it came out for a second, so you're not going to see too many better plays than that with the obstacles and certainly with the magnitude of where we were in the game."

Said Springer, who finished 0-for-1 with three walks: "It was a hell of a play by Fuld. You just have to tip your hat to him. I was able to hit it well, and he made a good play."

Mujica entered in relief of left-hander Drew Pomeranz, who departed with left shoulder tightness, with two runners on in the fifth and escaped by recording a forceout before striking out Astros left fielder Preston Tucker.

Oakland grabbed the lead for good in the sixth.

The Athletics pushed across the winning run off the Astros bullpen, loading the bases with no outs against left-hander Joe Thatcher (0-1). Third baseman Brett Lawrie flipped a single off right-hander Will Harris into right field to score designated hitter Billy Butler and snap the 1-1 tie. Butler reached on a single originally scored as an error on third baseman Jonathan Villar.

"We just couldn't really break through with any sort of momentum," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "We had some opportunities, we just didn't have the knockout punch."

Astros right-hander Lance McCullers made his major league debut and exhibited control issues from his opening frame, walking three in the first two innings.

Oakland pulled even in the second, with second baseman Eric Sogard delivering an RBI single to right that scored first baseman Max Muncy, who doubled with one out. After left fielder Coco Crisp walked to load the bases, McCullers escaped further damage, starting a streak of nine consecutive batters he retired.

McCullers allowed one run on three hits and three walks with five strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings, throwing 93 pitches, including 54 strikes.

NOTES: Astros RHP Samuel Deduno (lower back strain) was placed on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to May 14. The Astros also transferred SS Jed Lowrie (right thumb ligament tear) from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. The moves cleared space on the 25- and 40-man rosters for Monday's starter, RHP Lance McCullers. At 21 years, 228 days, McCullers became the youngest starting pitcher to make his Astros debut since RHP Jordan Lyles (20 years, 224 days) on May 31, 2011, at the Chicago Cubs. ... Athletics RHP Jarrod Parker will undergo surgery Tuesday to stabilize a fracture in his right elbow. Parker, who was attempting a comeback from a second Tommy John surgery, experienced a setback while making a rehab start for Triple-A Nashville on May 8. Before the latest injury, he was set to return to the Oakland rotation by the end of May.