Rangers Lose To A’s
By Matt Schwab, The Sports Xchange
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jesse Hahn delivered a premium start on Wednesday, but he knew who deserved the credit after the Oakland Athletics’ 9-1 blowout of the Texas Rangers.
The guys behind him.
“I think defense won the game today,” Hahn said after his first win of the season. “It was just unbelievable. These guys made unbelievable plays behind me. All I had to do was keep the ball in play.”
Hahn, who was not in the A’s rotation at the start of the season, breezed through six innings, allowing two hits with four strikeouts and four walks.
He continued his recent mastery of the Rangers, after pitching six strong innings of relief in a 10-5 loss on April 7, effectively clinching his starting spot.
Khris Davis of the A’s slugged his seventh home run, a two-run blast to right on the first pitch he saw from struggling reliever Mike Hauschild in the fifth.
Davis moved into a tie for the major league lead for homers with George Springer of Houston and Erik Thames of Milwaukee.
Hahn (1-1) did not allow a hit until Mike Napoli’s single to left with one out in the fourth.
“Jesse was just special today,” said Oakland first baseman Yonder Alonso, who had one of the A’s three home runs, his second of the season. “He such an athletic guy, too. He can field his position very well.
“He was pounding the strike zone. Had all his pitches. He was working up, he was working down, and it was nice to see.”
Rangers left-hander Martin Perez (1-2) was saddled with four runs in the first inning, when he allowed three doubles, all the scoring coming with two out.
Perez threw 50 pitches in the first 1 1/3 innings and totaled 83 over 3 2/3 innings. He allowed four earned runs.
By contrast, Hahn made seven pitches in a 1-2-3 first, and nine in the second.
The A’s, who backed Hahn with 14 hits including three home runs, and snapped an 11-game streak in which they committed at least one error.
“In the ninth inning, I was grinding,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said of the error-free defense. “I wanted a nice, clean game and we played a nice, clean game. … It ended up being all the way around a good day for our confidence.”
A’s second baseman Chad Pinder hit his first home run of the season in the sixth, and also had a double.
Perez said he was trying to stay in the game long enough to give the bullpen some rest, but that didn’t happen.
“You have to fight when you have days like today,” Perez said. “When you don’t have your best stuff, you have to compete, trying to hit the spot that you want and keep the ball down and compete every time.
“That’s for me the big thing when you don’t have good stuff.”
The A’s four-run first inning was “huge,” Melvin said, because it gave Hahn a chance to settle into a rhythm without much pressure.
Shortstop Adam Rosales, filling in for injured Marcus Semien, made nice defensive plays in the second and third innings.
A’s leadoff Rajai Davis, who entered the game on an 0-for-9 skid, set the tone in his first at bat with a double to right. Two outs later, Ryon Healy made Texas pay for intentionally walking Davis with an RBI single. Josh Phegley followed with a two-run double, and Alonso on an RBI double.
Rangers manager Jeff Banister was ejected in the third inning by umpire Bill Welke after arguing that Davis’ chopper toward third was hit foul.
Banister said Perez was missing locations and having some pitches run back over the plate.
“He got two outs (in the first) and it took him 29 pitches to get the third out,” Banister said. “It was a situation there where we walked Davis intentionally, that was on me, I didn’t want to give him three swings on it.”
Joey Gallo of Texas hit the first pitch he saw from Hahn for a solo shot to center to lead off the fifth, cutting it to 4-1. It was Gallo’s third homer of the season.
Confronting his first jam in the fourth, Hahn won a battle against left-handed Rougned Odor with a strikeout and then also fanned Elvis Andrus to strand runners at first and second.
Perez had better luck in his previous start against the A’s. He worked 5 1/3 shutout innings, allowing six hits and three walks. He was removed in the sixth inning after throwing 92 pitches overall.
