Rangers Lose To A’s
ARLINGTON, Texas – The Oakland Athletics are on a roll they don’t want to see end.
Not by other teams or the upcoming trade deadline.
Thanks to two-run homers from Coco Crisp and Kris Davis in the eighth inning, the A’s were able to beat the Texas Rangers 6-4 on Wednesday night at Globe Life Park and win another series.
The A’s (47-55) ended up taking two of three from the American League West leaders to extend their series win streak to four. That’s the longest run for Oakland since 2014.
“It was a great series for us,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “Three hard-fought games against a great team.”
Crisp and Davis both went deep to right in the eighth off Texas reliever Matt Bush, turning a 3-2 deficit into a three-run advantage. Davis also homered in the first and leads the team with 25 long balls.
“We’re just enjoying each other and believing that we’re going to get the job done that day,” said Davis, who has seven homers and 19 RBIs against the Rangers this season.
The A’s are 9-4 since the All-Star break. Though the trade rumors are out
there, perhaps keeping this thing together isn’t such a bad idea.
“We haven’t moved anybody,” Melvin said. “I know there is some time left, but we’re playing better baseball and that certainly gives pause for thought.”
Oakland’s late uprising avoided a loss for starter Sean Manaea and denied Texas’ Yu Darvish of his first win in nearly two months.
Manaea was solid working into the seventh and kept the A’s close. The left-hander fanned nine, scattered 11 hits and gave up three runs in 6 2/3 innings.
“He gave up some hits, but he was like a boxer,” Melvin said. “He hung in there.”
Oakland’s bullpen closed out the club’s fifth victory in the last six games. Ryan Dull (5-2) picked up the win and Ryan Madson posted his 22nd save of the season.
The Rangers (58-44) once again failed to win with Darvish on the mound. Darvish picked up his last victory on June 3.
Darvish went a season-high six innings for the second straight outing. He allowed two earned runs, both coming in the first, and four hits and struck out six without issuing a walk.
“After the first inning, he really threw the ball well,” Texas manager Jeff Banister said.
Darvish finished his night with a strikeout of Davis with a man at third. The 6-foot-5 right-hander let out a yell along with a fist pump on the way to the dugout.
The joy didn’t last long.
Bush (3-2) immediately found himself in trouble as Ryon Healy singled to lead off the eighth. Crisp followed with a towering shot to right for a 4-3 lead.
After an out, Josh Reddick and Davis followed with their own single-homer combo to end Bush’s night.
“It’s tough,” Bush said. “I feel like I let my team down.”
The Rangers did score once in the ninth and had the tying at the plate with two outs. Madson was able to strike out Jurickson Profar to end it.
The A’s jumped on Darvish with two runs in the first. Crisp opened the game with a triple down the right-field line and scored on Jed Lowrie’s sac fly to deep right. Davis drilled his 24th home run of the season to left with two outs.
Texas cut the deficit in half in the third on back-to-back hits with two outs against Manaea. Ian Desmond doubled into the right-field corner and scored on Adrian Beltre’s single to left.
Desmond put the Rangers up 3-2 in the fifth with a two-run shot to right-center field, his team-leading 20th homer of the season.
