HOUSTON — In a homestand from hell, order seemed restored Sunday afternoon when Cristian Javier reached the mound in the fifth inning. His Houston Astros teammates had staked him to a six-run lead against baseball’s worst team. The bottom third of the Athletics’ batting order loomed.Only two Astros pitchers are being paid more than Javier. A baseline expectation comes with that windfall. Neutralizing the 50-80 A’s was a nonnegotiable part of it. Yet, before Javier could try, a realization rocked the entire ballpark: Little confidence exists that he can.Javier threw just two pitches before Enyel De Los Santos began warming in the bullpen. After 12 more, De Los Santos entered the game. When he did, Javier had already given back half the lead Houston’s broken offense had been handed in the first place.Two of the Astros’ six runs Sunday were unearned. Another scored on a bases-loaded walk. Against an A’s pitching staff with the American League’s highest earned-run average, the Astros finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine base runners. Daulton Varsho, the team’s only trade deadline acquisition, left three by himself. He is now 11-for-65 since his arrival.“We should be disappointed in the way we played, regardless of who is across the field from us,” first baseman Christian Walker said. “We’re a better team than that. Holding on to leads, scoring runs late, we’re capable of all those things. Disappointed, but disappointed in ourselves regardless of who is on the field with us.”But these past nine games are defined by who was. Houston hosted a nine-game homestand against the Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels and A’s. All three clubs exited Sunday at least seven games under .500. The Angels arrived at Daikin Park without a road series win since May, and the A’s had won eight times in their past 41 games.