All good things come to an end. For the A’s, their three-game winning streak unfortunately could not get to four. The Texas Rangers got back to their winning ways. They scored six runs and held the A’s offense on their way to a 6-2 victory.
The fireworks started early, with Oakland’s Tyler Nevin singling in the first inning to bring leadoff hitter Abraham Toro home for a 1-0 lead. But, Texas responded with three runs of their own at the bottom of the first. RBIs by Josh Smith, Jonah Heim, and Marcus Semien helped them get the early lead. The A’s wouldn’t score again until the eighth inning on a solo home run by Zach Gelof. It was too little, too late with the Rangers scoring three more runs in the fourth inning to have a lead they would not relinquish.
Ross Stripling, Oakland’s starter, had a rough outing but still went six innings. He struck out five batters, but walked three and allowed all of Texas’s runs. T.J. McFarland and Dany Jimenez stopped the Rangers from scoring any more runs, but the offense could not help their cause.
Cody Bradford is off to a great start for the Rangers, improving his record to 3-0 thanks to 6 2/3 innings of five-hit ball and one run allowed (no earned runs). He struck out seven, and the bullpen took care of the rest as the Rangers snapped a losing streak of their own and improved to 7-5 on the season.
Adolis Garcia had a day for the Rangers, going 3-3 with two RBIs and a run of his own.
The A’s had plenty of chances to get runs across the plate. But, when you go 1-7 with runners in scoring position, you can kiss any hopes of a win goodbye.
Up Next
Loss aside, the Oakland A’s will have a chance to win the three-game series on Thursday. JP Sears (0-1, 8.68 ERA) takes the mound for the Green & Gold, while the Rangers will counter with Jon Gray (0-0, 6.14 ERA).
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