The way Matt Olson flipped his bat near home plate as he watched the ball he launched into Minute Maid Park’s upper deck in right field was almost therapeutic. A look of relief came over him as he made his trek around the bases.

For the first time in 2021, the A’s looked like themselves again.

Olson’s towering go-ahead three-run blast off Astros left-hander Blake Taylor in the eighth inning -- his first long ball of the season -- soared a projected 414 feet and left the bat at 105.8 mph, according to Statcast. It was one of three homers on the night for Oakland's offense, matching its home run total for the season entering the day before breaking out in Friday’s 6-2 win over Houston.

Olson broke a 1-1 tie by unloading on a 1-2 slider from Taylor. Before slapping hands with third-base coach Mark Kotsay, the first baseman let out huge roar in the direction of the A’s dugout. He sensed the tide was turning after a win that gives Oakland the opportunity to take two of three from its division rivals on Saturday for its first series victory of the season.

“It was good to feel a little emotion and adrenaline in the dugout after such a tough start,” Olson said. “Hopefully, it sparks us a little bit and we can ride this into tomorrow and turn this around.”

Friday’s game was the formula the A’s followed for most of the 2020 campaign en route to winning their first American League West title since 2013. They received a strong outing on the mound from Sean Manaea, did most of their offensive damage in the late innings and turned it over to their bullpen, with Lou Trivino and Jake Diekman shutting the door in the final two innings.

“We’ve been waiting for that,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Across the board -- pitching and defense -- that’s the type of game that we play. It goes hand in hand. Manaea was fantastic. But Oly’s blow was the big one of the game.”

Melvin noticed a different demeanor emanating from Manaea when he took the mound. He said there was more of an edge to the lefty, who was perhaps motivated to show he’s better than the version of himself that allowed five runs on six hits -- two of which were homers -- in 4 2/3 innings against Houston last week at the Oakland Coliseum.

Manaea certainly pitched like he had a chip on his shoulder, putting the A’s in good position for their first win in six tries against the Astros with the best performance to date by an Oakland pitcher. Displaying good control of his pitches, the left-hander kept Houston’s offense quiet by allowing just one run on six hits and one walk, with four strikeouts in six innings. The quality start was the first produced by an A’s starter this season.

“Those guys kicked my butt last time,” Manaea said. “To face these guys [in] back-to-back games, I felt like I had to go out there and prove something.”

Jed Lowrie also hit his first homer of the 2021 campaign. His solo shot in the fourth off Lance McCullers Jr. was his first home run since Sept. 29, 2018, during his previous stint with Oakland.

After two injury-plagued seasons with the Mets, Lowrie, who signed a Minor League deal with the A’s in February and earned a spot on their Opening Day roster, continues to look like he’s stepped into a time machine back to 2018. Also singling in the eighth just before Olson’s three-run blast, the 37-year-old Lowrie upped his batting average to a team-leading .276.

“He’s a little older than the last time we saw him and we’re going to have to give him some days off,” Melvin said. “But at the plate, he looks the same to me. We saw that in Spring Training.”

Between the three homers by Olson, Lowrie and Mark Canha, and the strong all-around pitching, Friday’s win provided the blueprint for how the A’s expect to win more ballgames going forward. It hasn’t been a great start -- now just 2-7 through nine games -- but they could look back on this night as the game that finally got them back on track.

“That is our more typical kind of game, where we grind it out a little bit and stay in the game until we do something nice late,” Olson said. “I think we can take this momentum and ride it out.”