Series Recap: Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics 5/6-5/8

Tuesday, May 7

The Rangers continued the series with two games — an afternoon game and an evening rubber match against the A’s. The Rangers lost to the A’s 9-4. Texas fell to 21-17, while Oakland improved to 18-20. Rangers pitcher Michael Lorenzen pitched six innings and gave up nine hits, six earned runs, two walks, and six strikeouts. Meanwhile, A’s pitcher JP Sears pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up seven hits, four earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts. The Rangers quickly got on the board. Jonah Heim was out on a sacrifice fly to Brent Rooker. Marcus Semien scored for a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Corey Seager went to third base with two outs. The Rangers’ lead was short-lived. Shea Langaliers homered on a fly ball to left field. Brent Rooker scored to give the A’s a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Rangers tied the ballgame at two apiece. Marcus Semien homered on a fly ball to left field to tie the game 2-2 in the top of the third inning. The Rangers took a two-run lead. Leody Taveras homered on a fly ball to center field. Ezequiel Duran scored to make it a 4-2 game in the top of the fourth inning. The A’s tied the game at four apiece. Shea Langaliers doubled on a sharp line drive to Ezequiel Duran. Brent Rooker and J.D. Davis scored to tie the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The A’s took a one-run lead. Brett Harris homered on a fly ball to left center field to make it a 5-4 game in the bottom of the fifth inning. The A’s added a run. Shea Langaliers tripled on a sharp line drive to Leody Taveras. J.D. Davis scored to extend the A’s lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the sixth inning. The A’s added three runs to seal the scoring. Brent Rooker homered on a fly ball to center field. Abraham Toro and JJ Bleday scored to expand the A’s lead to 6-4 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Rangers lost the first game of the doubleheader 9-4 to the A’s after nine innings. For Texas, Marcus Semien went 3-for-5. And, for Oakland, Shea Langaliers and Brent Rooker went 3-for-4. After the first game, Texas and Oakland took the field for the second game.

Wednesday, May 8

12:37 p.m. Central

The Rangers and A’s had a doubleheader starting on Wednesday afternoon. The Rangers picked up their fourth straight win with a 15-8 blowout victory over the A’s. Texas improved to 21-16, while Oakland fell to 17-20. Rangers pitcher Jose Urena pitched five innings and gave up four hits, one earned run, two walks, and two strikeouts. Meanwhile, A’s pitcher Ross Stripling pitched just 1 2/3 innings and gave up a whopping ten hits, five earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts before Hogan Harris entered the ballgame and pitched 5 1/3 innings and gave up eight hits, four earned runs, one walk, and five strikeouts. The Rangers quickly got on the board. Marcus Semien homered on a line drive to center field for a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The Rangers’ offense exploded with ten runs in a lone inning. Leody Taveras singled on a ground ball to Lawrence Butler. Travis Jankowski scored for a 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Marcus Semien singled on a ground ball to Seth Brown. Jonah Heim scored to make it a 3-0 game. Taveras went to second base. Corey Seager reached on a fielder’s choice, fielded by J.D. Davis. Taveras scored to give the Rangers a 4-0 lead. Semien went to second base on a throwing error by Davis. Adolis Garcia walked. Semien scored to extend the Rangers’ lead to 5-0. Seager went to third base, while Nathaniel Lowe went to second base. Josh Smith singled on a line drive to Lawrence Butler. Seager scored to expand the Rangers’ lead to 6-0. Lowe went to third base, while Garcia went to second base. Heim singled on a ground ball to JJ Bleday. Lowe and Garcia scored to put the Rangers up 8-0. Smith went to second base. Taveras singled on a pop up to Seth Brown. Smith scored to help the Rangers to a 9-0 lead. Heim went to second base. Semien doubled on a sharp line drive to Brown. Heim and Taveras scored for a double-digit 11-0 lead. The A’s finally got on the board. Darrell Hernaiz reached on a throwing error by Corey Seager.

Kyle McCann scored to reduce the Rangers’ lead to 11-1 in the bottom of the second inning. Brent Rooker singled on a soft ground ball to Josh Smith. Max Schuemann scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 11-2. Brett Harris went to third base, while Abraham Toro went to second base. The Rangers’ offense re-emerged. Marcus Semien singled on a ground ball to Brett Harris. Jonah Heim scored for a 12-2 lead in the top of the fourth inning. Leody Taveras went to second base. Nathaniel Lowe doubled on a line drive to Seth Brown. Taveras and Semien scored to make it a 14-2 game. Corey Seager went to third base. Adolis Garcia was out on a sacrifice fly to Lawrence Butler. Seager scored to extend the Rangers’ lead to 15-2. Lowe went to third base with one out.

The A’s tacked on two runs. Jonathan Hernandez threw a wild pitch. Kyle McCann scored to reduce the Rangers’ lead to 15-3 in the top of the bottom of the sixth inning. Max Schuemann went to third base, while Brett Harris went to second base. Abraham Toro grounded out to Marcus Semien and to Nathaniel Lowe. Schuemann scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 15-4. Harris went to third base with two outs. The A’s added a run. Kyle McCann homered on a fly ball to center field to cut the Rangers’ lead to 15-5 in the bottom of the seventh inning. The A’s inched closer to the Rangers, but that was all she wrote. Seth Brown homered on a fly ball to left-center field. JJ Bleday and Brent Rooker cut the Rangers’ lead to 15-8 in the bottom of the eighth inning. For Texas, Marcus Semien, a former Oakland Athletic from 2015 to 2020, went for 4-for-5, while Jonah Heim went 4-for-4. And, for Oakland, Kyle McCann went 3-for-4. 4:37 p.m. Central

The Rangers and A’s took the field for the second game of the doubleheader. The Rangers survived the A’s comeback bid and won the game 12-11 and the series 3-2. Texas improved to 22-17, while Oakland fell to 18-21. Rangers pitcher Jack Leiter pitched four innings and gave up seven hits, four earned runs, and three strikeouts. Meanwhile, A’s pitcher Osvaldo Bido pitched 2 2/3 innings and gave up three hits, four earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts. After a scoreless first inning, Texas got on the board. Ezequiel Duran singled on a sharp line drive to Seth Brown that was deflected by Max Schuemann. Jonah Heim scored for a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Travis Jankowski went to second base. Shortly after, Oakland got on the board. Shea Langaliers homered on a fly ball to center field. Seth Brown scored to give the A’s a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning. The Rangers regained the lead. Jonah Heim singled on a ground ball to JJ Bleday. Marcus Semien and Nathaniel Lowe scored to make it a 3-2 game in the top of the third inning. Travis Jankowski singled on a ground ball to Brent Rooker. Josh Smith scored to extend the Rangers’ lead to 4-2. Heim went to third base. Kyle McCann threw a passed ball. Heim scored to expand the Rangers’ lead to 5-2. Jankowski went to second base. The A’s pulled within the Rangers. Seth Brown reached on a fielder’s choice that was fielded by Nathaniel Lowe. Abraham Toro scored to reduce the Rangers’ lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the third inning. Brent Rooker went to third base after Nathaniel Lowe committed a throwing error. The Rangers challenged a play at first base, but the call on the field was upheld. Shea Langaliers grounded into a forceout to Jack Leiter to Marcus Semien. Rooker scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 5-4. Seth Brown was out at second base, while Shea Langaliers to first base with two outs.

The Rangers added to their lead. Nathaniel Lowe singled on a ground ball to Tyler Sodestrom that was deflected by T.J. McFarland. Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien scored to make it a 7-4 game in the top of the fourth inning. The A’s made it a one-run game. Tyler Sodestrom homered on a fly ball to left center field. Max Schuemann scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 7-6 in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Rangers bounced back with three runs. Adolis Garcia doubled on a sharp line drive to Tyler Nevin. Evan Carter scored to make it an 8-6 game in the top of the eighth inning. Nathaniel Lowe went to third base. Josh Smith singled on a ground ball to Brent Rooker. Lowe scored to extend the Rangers’ lead to 9-6. Garcia went to third base. Jonah Heim singled on a ground ball to Nevin. Smith scored to expand the Rangers’ lead to 10-6. Heim went to second base.

The A’s inched closer to the Rangers. JJ Bleday grounded out to Nathaniel Lowe. Brett Harris scored to reduce the Rangers’ lead to 10-7 in the bottom of the eighth inning. Abraham Toro went to third base with one out. The Rangers’ offense re-emerged. Evan Carter singled on a fly ball to Brent Rooker. Ezequiel Duran scored to extend the Rangers’ lead to 11-7 in the top of the ninth inning. Nathaniel Lowe singled on a line drive to JJ Bleday. Leody Taveras scored to expand the Rangers’ lead to 12-7. Evan Carter went to second base. The A’s offense exploded. With Tyler Sodestrom batting, Shea Langaliers scored on a balk to reduce the Rangers’ lead to 12-8 in the bottom of the ninth inning. J.D. Davis advanced to third base on a balk. Max Schuemann advanced to second base on a balk. Brett Harris was out on a sacrifice fly to Adolis Garcia. J.D. Davis scored to cut the Rangers’ lead to 12-9. Max Schuemann went to third base with two outs. Abraham Toro singled on a ground ball to Garcia. Schuemann scored to make it a two-run game, 12-10. JJ Bleday doubled on a line drive to Evan Carter. Toro scored to make it a one-run game, 12-11. The Rangers held on for a 12-11 win over the A’s after nine innings. For Texas, Kirby Yates pitched one inning and gave up one strikeout and one earned run. And, for Oakland, Tyler Nevin went 0-for-2.

Up Next

The Rangers will wrap up their road trip with a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field starting Friday at 7:40 p.m. Central.