OAKLAND -- After the birth of his first child left him devoid of preparation for his previous start, Brett Anderson returned to a more normal routine leading up to Wednesday night’s outing.

The left-hander actually had the chance to pick up a ball in between starts this time around, and the result was more Anderson-like with a quality start, but it was not enough, as the A’s three-game winning streak was snapped in a 4-2 loss to the Brewers at the Coliseum. The loss moves Oakland to a half game behind the Rays for the second American League Wild Card.

• Box score

Anderson’s night started with Lorenzo Cain leading by demolishing a sinker over the Coliseum’s left-field wall for a solo shot. Anderson pitched with traffic on the bases in all but two of his innings, yet managed to last seven and limit Milwaukee to three runs on eight hits. But even though he outlasted his counterpart, Brewers starter Jordan Lyles, who went five innings, the A’s offense was unable to capitalize on their chances throughout the night.

“It probably didn’t look like it after the first hitter, but I felt a lot better than I did that last outing,” said Anderson, who lasted just 4 2/3 innings and allowed five runs against the Rangers on Thursday. “I was able to settle down and make some pitches to get back to being efficient. I just got outpitched tonight.”

Anderson’s 13 quality starts are tied for fourth-most among American League starters. He managed to settle in and hold the Brewers scoreless over his final three innings, but three early runs were the difference-maker Wednesday night.

"Just early runs for us -- it’s been a struggle for us to score early,” Brewers manager Craig Counsell said. “Early runs were important. Playing with a lead was important tonight.”

The A’s scattered just three hits and one run through five innings against Lyles. The right-hander was making his first start with the Brewers this season after arriving via trade from the Pirates earlier this week, but Lyles also gave the A’s fits in Pittsburgh on May 5 when he held them to one run over 6 2/3 innings.

“He throws at the top of the zone and it felt like he was getting a few too many up there,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “He’s got a curveball he can throw for a strike and get guys to chase, an up-and-down guy just as much as in and out. He’s pretty good. He didn’t throw too many balls over the middle of the plate and elevated when he needed to.”

Jurickson Profar came off the bench in the seventh and supplied an RBI double that trimmed the deficit to one run, but that was the only clutch hit of the night for the A’s, who finished 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

Facing Josh Hader in the ninth down two runs, the A’s had a chance to make some magic happen for a second night in a row after Matt Olson walked it off with a solo blast off the left-hander Tuesday night. Profar got on with a single to bring the tying run to the plate, but missing spark plug Ramon Laureano, who landed on the 10-day injured list before the game, the A’s went down quietly.

Chapman in a funk

Matt Chapman drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the third but went hitless in an 0-for-4 night. The A’s All-Star third baseman is 1-for-28 stretch since July 24, but Melvin isn’t too concerned, chalking it up to the ebbs and flows most players go through over the course of a season.

“It’s a long season,” Melvin said. “Everyone is going to go through stretches like that. He’ll fight his way through it.”