Rangers Sweep A’s

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OAKLAND, Calif. — When Oakland beat the Minnesota Twins for the third consecutive time Aug. 9, the A’s owned a 71-45 record and a four-game lead in the American League West.

Since then, the A’s have won just 11 of 36 games, transforming from a World Series title contender to a team that is fighting for its wild-card playoff life.

The Athletics’ freefall continued Thursday afternoon when the Texas Rangers played spoilers for the third consecutive game at the O.co Coliseum, beating Oakland 7-2 to sweep the series and knock the A’s out of a tie for the American League’s first wild-card playoff spot.

The A’s (83-69) trail the Kansas City Royals by a half-game in the wild-card race and have 10 games to play. Oakland owned a 1 1/2-game lead over Seattle prior to the Mariners’ game against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday night.

“When you’re in a race, and it’s a wild-card race now, that kind of baseball’s supposed to be fun,” A’s left fielder Brandon Moss said. “But I don’t see anybody in this clubhouse having any fun right now because it’s not. With the way things are going and just how things have built, we’re pretty frustrated.

“We’re disappointed, but it’s not over, and we know that, but I think we’re definitely pressing to right the ship. You can see it in our demeanor, you can see it in the way things happen.”

The Rangers (60-92) extended their winning streak to a season-high six games, the longest current streak in

the major leagues. They have swept back-to-back series against the Atlanta Braves and the A’s.

“The teams we’re playing are still competing for the playoffs, and when you face a team from your own division, you want to beat them,” Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “It’s nice to do to them what they did to us.”

Rookie right fielder Jake Smolinski went 4-for-5 with four singles, pacing the Rangers’ 15-hit attack. He drove in a run and scored one.

Texas center fielder Leonys Martin, shortstop Elvis Andrus, left fielder Ryan Rua and second baseman Rougned Odor each had two hits.

Rangers rookie right-hander Nick Martinez (4-11) gave up two runs and three hits in 5 2/3 innings, snapping a two-game losing streak.

“It’s great team chemistry,” Rangers first baseman Adam Rosales said. “Everybody is excited to show up and play every day and contribute. These are good teams we’re beating, but I think we can beat anyone if we continue to play the way we are capable.”

A’s right-hander Sonny Gray (13-9) allowed five runs (four earned) and eight hits in five innings, falling to 1-6 in his past 10 starts.

Oakland right fielder Sam Fuld hit a two-run triple and a double.

The Rangers grabbed a 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning against Gray, getting singles from Andrus, Beltre, Smolinski, catcher Tomas Telis and Rua. Smolinski, Telis and Rua each drove in a run, and Teles scored on a passed ball charged to catcher Derek Norris.

Gray threw 32 pitches in the inning without walking a batter as his first-inning troubles continued.

“Unfortunately for us, I dug us in a hole a little bit too deep,” Gray said. “If you give up four in the first, nine times out of 10 you’re not going to overcome that.

“It’s probably easier said than done, but we honestly have got to put this behind us.”

Fuld’s triple in the third cut Texas’ lead to 4-2.

Texas increased the margin to 5-2 with a run in the fifth inning. Beltre walked with one out, moved to third on Smolinski’s single to center and scored on Telis’ fielder’s choice grounder.

The Rangers scored two runs in the sixth inning against A’s reliever Dan Otero. Rosales led off with a single to center and Martin doubled him home with one out. Andrus grounded an RBI single to left.

“The good thing is we’re still in a position to make the playoffs,” said A’s shortstop Jed Lowrie, who had two hits. “We just need to forget what’s happened, try to hit the reset button and everybody take a deep breath and move forward. It’s not easy. And I think we’ve had some carryover, but for us to accomplish what we want to, it’s going to have to happen sooner rather than later.”

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