Rangers Defeat A’s
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ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers came through with the timely hit — not to mention victory — that the Oakland Athletics so desperately needed.
Adrian Beltre’s home run off Luke Gregerson in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Rangers to a 2-1 victory over Oakland on Thursday night.
Beltre’s 19th home run — the 395th of the third baseman’s career — handed the Athletics (86-73) their third consecutive loss and their 10th defeat in 15 games.
Oakland fell one game behind the Kansas City Royals (87-72) for the first American League wild-card spot. In the race for the second wild card, the A’s are two games ahead of the Seattle Mariners (84-75) and three ahead of the Cleveland Indians (83-76). All four teams have three games remaining.
Oakland center fielder and leadoff hitter Coco Crisp reached base five times, going 2-for-2 with three walks. But Oakland hitters, held to six hits, couldn’t get him home. The A’s left 10 men on base.
“Usually when he’s on base that much, somebody’s driving him in,” Oakland manager
Bob Melvin said “Offensively, we aren’t doing our job right now.
“That’s a game we have to figure out how to win. We had too many opportunities.”
Gregerson (5-5) allowed just the one hit in 1 1/3 innings, an 0-1 pitch that Beltre took to right field. Oakland right fielder Josh Reddick leapt in vain as the ball sailed into the first few rows.
Right-hander Neftali Feliz (2-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for Texas (66-93), which earned a fifth consecutive win and its 12th victory 13 games.
“He hung a slider over the plate and I was able to put a good swing on it,” Beltre said. “Our job is to win ball games every day. It doesn’t matter who we play or what the situation is.”
Neither starting pitcher figured in the decision.
Oakland right-hander Jason Hammel, who allowed only one baserunner in the first five innings, gave up one run on five hits and no walks while striking out five over six innings.
Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus hit a single that scored center fielder Leonys Martin with the tying run in the sixth.
Texas right-hander Colby Lewis allowed baserunners in each of his seven innings, but he gave up only one run in six hits and five walks while striking out seven.
He pitched around serious trouble in the fifth, but Oakland touched him up for a run in the sixth.
Left fielder Brandon Moss walked to lead off and advanced to third on shortstop Jed Lowrie’s base hit to right. Moss came home on catcher Geovany Soto’s safety squeeze.
In the last 26 games, the A’s are hitting .213 as a team.
“Typically we don’t do those things,” Melvin said the squeeze play. “But at some point and time you have to come up with a way to score a run.
“One run usually isn’t going to win a lot of games.”
Hammel retired 14 of the first 15 hitters he faced, his only glitch a one-out double to Texas designated hitter Luis Sardinas in the third. Oakland’s right-hander remained unfazed, though, striking out the next two hitters.
Oakland advanced runners to second and third with one out in the fifth. Second baseman Eric Sogard singled and Crisp walked, and each advanced a base on Lewis’ wild pitch.
Lewis, though, induced a foul out from right fielder Josh Reddick before walking the next hitter, third baseman Josh Donaldson, intentionally to load the bases with two outs for designated hitter Adam Dunn, who grounded out weakly to first.
“Colby, what can you say about him?” Texas interim manager Tim Bogar said of Lewis, who came back this season after not pitching for 18 months while dealing with elbow and hip surgeries. “He just battled and battled and battled. That’s why he’s the workhorse.
“We’ve talked about it all season how inspirational he is. Tonight was another effort our young pitchers can build on and watch. It was fun to watch Colby fight through that.”
