The Oakland Athletics’ red-hot run to .500 is starting to slow down as they’ve now dropped their third straight game, the second in their series against the Texas Rangers.
Unlike their previous losses, the A’s actually were able to score more than a few runs today. Thanks to a few big hits, including a solo homer from Kyle McCann and a three-run shot from Seth Brown, Oakland was able to put up 8 runs on the reigning champions.
But it didn’t matter as the Rangers put up an early 10-spot on the A’s in the top of the 2nd. Only 5 of those were attributed to starter Ross Stripling as a throwing error from J.D. Davis extended his downward spiral until Hogan Harris had was called upon to eat the remaining starter innings. He didn’t fare much better as he allowed another RBI double to Marcus Semien before giving another quartet of runs in the top of the 4th. At that point, the A’s put themselves in an insurmountable 15-2 hole.
To their credit, they battled back to erase half of that deficit by attacking the Rangers bullpen but it was too little, too late. Adding insult to injury — or injury to injury — Darell Hernaiz, who’s been on a nice run at the plate recently, had a nasty landing on the first base bag trying to outrun a grounder in the 2nd inning. He was able to reach safely as Corey Seager’s throw went wild and allowed McCann to score, but Hernaiz had to leave the game with a left ankle injury.
On the bright side, the newly added Tyler Ferguson, who’s been dominating at Triple-A Las Vegas, cooled the Rangers down for the last 2 innings, striking out 3 batters and keeping them scoreless. He could be another nice find for an already dominant bullpen.
The A’s can still even up the series tomorrow with a doubleheader against Texas and get back on track towards a winning record. JP Sears and the newly recalled Osvaldo Bido will be starting on the mound.