Rangers Blank A’s

By Eric Gilmore, The Sports Xchange

OAKLAND, Calif. — As far as baseball homecomings go, A.J. Griffin couldn’t have asked for much more Monday night at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Texas right-hander pitched six shutout innings against his former team, and the Rangers ended a three-game losing streak by beating the Oakland A’s 7-0.
Griffin (2-0) faced Oakland for the second time overall and first time at the Coliseum since being released by the A’s on Nov. 30, 2015. He allowed one hit and struck out eight, one shy of his career high.
“You want to go out there and put together a good game anywhere you pitch, but it is a little bit sweeter here against the old team,” Griffin said. “I haven’t pitched off that mound in a long time, and I felt right at home out there. It was good.
“I was throwing first-pitch curveballs for strikes. That was huge. Able to keep them off balance and then I could pretty much go wherever I wanted to from that. It was huge to just get ahead and keep them off balance and just pitch my game.”
Griffin went 21-11 with a 3.60 ERA in 2012 and 2013 for the A’s, who drafted him in the 13th round in 2010. He was 10-4 as an Athletic at the Coliseum.
“I would say that in the two years we’ve had him that’s about as smooth of an outing, in control, that he’s had,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.
Carlos Gomez went 2-for-4 with a double, drove in two runs and scored three times for the Rangers. Nomar Mazara went 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and a run. Mike Napoli had a two-run double.
Right-hander Jharel Cotton (1-2) allowed five runs on five hits over 5 1/3 innings for the A’s, who lost their fourth straight game. Stephen Vogt had a double in the second inning, and Ryon Healy doubled in the eighth.
“He had a really good curveball tonight and when it’s that slow, it makes his fastball that much more,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of Griffin. “It plays a lot harder than the velocity would suggest. When you’re throwing 65, 68 mph curveballs, changeups, then all the sudden a chest-high 88 mph fastball. He had us in between the fastball and curveball today.”
In his first start against Oakland, Griffin gave up four runs in 3 1/3 innings but got a no-decision in Texas’ 10-5 win at Arlington on April 7. Griffin said he was better able to control his emotions this time against the A’s.
“My first outing this year against the old team in Arlington, I was a little bit more jacked up,” Griffin said. “I was just trying to go out there and work with (catcher Jonathan Lucroy). He did a great job tonight. He was calling a great game. We were just pitching my game, keeping them off balance.”
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Gomez lined a leadoff single to left, moved to second on Elvis Andrus’ infield single and scored on Mazara’s opposite-field double down the left field line. Cotton retired the next three batters in order, escaping further damage.
Texas extended its lead to 5-0 with four runs in the fifth. Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Gallo worked back-to-back walks to open the frame and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Gomez lined Cotton’s next pitch to the right-center alley for a two-run double and moved to third on a throwing error.
After Mazara was walked intentionally and stole second, Napoli lined a two-run double to left.
“I think I let off a little bit,” Cotton said of the fifth inning. “I wasn’t attacking like I was doing in the first, second, third or fourth innings. I should have kept attacking their guys, but I tried to be too cute with the pitches.”