Rangers Lose To A’s
ARLINGTON, Texas — Oakland rookie left-hander Sean Nolin hasn’t been around long enough to know what it’s like to play a big-league spoiler.
But he played the role well Saturday night.
Nolin pitched 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball against Texas for his first major league win as the Athletics cut down the Rangers 5-3.
The win kept Oakland (61-81) from clinching its first losing season since 2011. It also dropped the Rangers to 5-9 against Oakland this year.
The silver lining for the Rangers was they didn’t lose any ground to Houston in the American League West and remained one game ahead of Minnesota in the wild-card race.
Nolin (1-1), who was acquired from Toronto in the offseason as part of the Josh Donaldson trade, struck out five and gave up just five hits in his fourth career outing.
Nolin allowed a solo homer to Texas first baseman Mike Napoli in the second inning that put the Rangers up 1-0. He didn’t give up another run and got some big offensive support in the fifth.
That support allowed Nolin to accomplish a big milestone in picking up win No. 1.
“It’s something I’ve always dreamt about as a young kid,” he said. “No. 1, pitching in the
big leagues, and two, getting a win. So this is definitely something I’ve looked forward to. Overall, the last few years, fighting one injury that prolonged everything else, now I feel like things are lining up.”
Texas right-hander Yovani Gallardo (12-10) allowed two hits in the first four innings but didn’t make it out of the fifth. Five consecutive Oakland batters had hits off Gallardo, with left-fielder Mark Canha providing the big blow with a three-run homer.
Two batters later, third baseman Danny Valencia cranked a two-run homer to left as Gallardo failed to make it past the sixth for the 14th-consecutive start. Gallardo also allowed two home runs in a start for the first time since New York homered off him twice on July 30.
“I just didn’t have the fastball command,” said Gallardo, who had his shortest outing since July 25. “It was a battle for sure, from the first inning to the first hitter. I was able to get out of jams in the innings before that, but I wasn’t able to do it. I left a curveball over the middle of the plate (to Canha). I tried to throw it away and it stayed up a bit.”
The Rangers made things interesting in the ninth off Oakland closer Sean Doolittle. Designated hitter Prince Fielder hit a two-run double to left to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. But Doolittle struck out Napoli to end the game.
Those late runs by Texas just showed the value of Nolin’s outing.
“I thought it was great (his outing),” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “Based on the way we’ve been playing lately, and the results we’ve been getting out of the rotation, for the most part, to get a game like that out of a tough lineup, was needed. He got us deep enough into the game where we didn’t have to use too many guys in the bullpen.”
The Rangers are now just 25-28 against left-handed starters this season with the last two losses coming to Nolin and Seattle’s Vidal Nuno. They faced left-handed starters in three of the next five games.
“It was the first time we faced that pitcher,” right fielder Shin-Soo Choo said of Nolin. “He’s not a power pitcher. His fastball and off-speed, there’s a 15-18 mph difference. We watched video, but until you step in the box, you don’t really see it.”
