Rangers Beat A’s
ARLINGTON, Texas — With the game on the line, there is no one the Texas Rangers would rather have at the plate than Adrian Beltre.
The possible future Hall of Famer showed why again Monday night.
Beltre drilled a two-run walk-off home run with two outs in the ninth, lifting the Rangers to a 7-6 win over the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Park.
“He leads this ballclub on the field,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said. “This is what he does. You can see the determination in his face. He knows what’s at stake. Two special at-bats tonight, none bigger than the last one. It’s just incredible and never stops impressing anybody.”
Texas (58-42) extended its winning streak to three games in the opener of a seven-game homestand. The Rangers also upped their lead in the division to 3 1/2 game with Houston’s loss to the New York Yankees.
Beltre’s second homer of the game sailed into the A’s bullpen off closer Ryan Madson. The Rangers rallied from a 5-1 deficit to beat their American League West rivals for the fourth straight time.
Beltre’s ninth career walk-off home run put the finishing touches on a 4-for-5 performance that
also included three RBIs and three runs scored. It was the first walk-off home run with the Rangers trailing since John Hamilton hit one in 2012.
“I was looking for a pitch over the plate I could drive, hit a double, hit a home run, exactly what I did,” Beltre said. “I didn’t want to get behind a pitcher like that. He’s a really good pitcher.”
Madson was one out away from his 22nd save. Instead, his first pitch to Beltre dropped his record to 3-4.
“I know he’s a good first-pitch fastball guy,” Madson said. “I got maybe a little bold-headed and tried to beat him instead of putting it in a good spot. I was feeling good with the heater I’ve had the last few weeks, so I had confidence in it. Just ended up being middle-middle, and to a fastball guy, first pitch, that’s not where I was aiming.”
Oakland (45-55) saw its three-game winning streak snapped. The A’s are still tied for the best record in the majors since the All-Star break at 7-4.
Danny Valencia went 2-for-4 for the A’s with three RBIs. He hit a two-run homer in the first and tacked on a run-scoring double in the third, as his batting average inched up to .302.
Valencia, though, was hardly surprised by Beltre’s ninth-inning heroics.
“Adrian Beltre is the one guy over there you say you can’t let him beat you,” Valencia said. “But he always finds a way.”
Texas reliever Jason Diekman (2-1) was credited with the win, but starter Martin Perez kept the Rangers in the game after getting roughed up early. The lefty allowed five runs (three earned) through the first three innings and gave up five extra-base hits before retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced in six innings of work.
Oakland starter Daniel Mengden often found himself in trouble and couldn’t make it out of the fifth after giving up four runs on seven hits. The rookie did depart with a 5-4 lead.
The division rivals traded runs in the seventh to keep it a one-run game. Josh Reddick’s two-out single scored Matt McBride off Texas reliever Matt Bush. Texas countered with Beltre’s slicing homer just inside the right-field foul pole against reliever John Axford.
All 13 runs by the two clubs were scored with two outs.
The A’s took a 2-0 lead in the first on Valencia’s 13th home run of a season. The shot to center came after Reddick reached on a two-out error by shortstop Elvis Andrus, who pulled first baseman Mitch Moreland off the bag with a wide throw.
Texas cut the gap in half in the bottom of the inning on Ian Desmond’s 19th homer. The two-out solo shot to right was Desmond’s second home run against Mengden this season.
Oakland tacked on another three runs in the third against Perez on doubles from Jed Lowrie, Valencia, Khris Davis and Billy Butler. The last three two-baggers came with two outs, each driving in a run.
The Rangers pulled within 5-2 in the fourth on Bobby Wilson’s two-out double to left to plate Beltre.
Texas got even closer on another two-out hit in the fifth, this one from Rougned Odor, to drive home two runs and make it 5-4. After an ensuing walk, Oakland manager Bob Melvin yanked Mengden in favor of Marc Rzepczynski.
