by Jerry Feitelberg

The Texas Rangers turned the tables on the A’s Tuesday evening at the Oakland Coliseum. They beat the A’s  10-6 to even the series at one game apiece. A’s starter Eric Surkamp continued to struggle in his latest effort after being recalled from Nashville. Surkamp was starting his seventh game of the year for Oakland, and he failed again. So far, Surkamp has not yet pitched a full six innings.  On Tuesday, he lasted just two and a third innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits. The A’s bullpen pitched well and, at one point, they retired twelve Texas hitters in a row before Elvis Andrus homered for the Rangers in the eighth. Ranger lefty Martin Perez won his sixth of the season while Surkamp’s record dropped to 0-4. The A’s are hoping that Surkamp can be more effective as “there are only so many guys” that can be used due to the injuries in the starting rotation. The scoring summary follows below.

The Rangers put one on the board in the very first inning. A’s starter Eric Surkamp walked Ranger left fielder Shin-soo Choo to start the game. Ian Desmond followed with a single to put men on at first and second with no out. Nomar Mazara hit into a fielder’s choice advancing Choo to third and he scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Ryan Rua. The A’s tied the game in the bottom of the first. Billy Burns led off with a single. Jed Lowrie singled sending Burns to third. Khris Davis doubled to right driving in Burns. Lowrie, attempting to score from first, was thrown out at home.

The Rangers scored three more runs in the second. With one out, Surkamp walked Rougned Odor. Elvis Andrus singled to put two men on. The Rangers’ catcher Robinson Chirinos, hitting just .190, put a Surkamp pitch on the walkway in left field. Rangers lead 4-1. The Rangers scored three more runs in the third as they now own a 7-1 lead. Ryan Rua, playing first base, led off the inning with a solo dinger. Surkamp gave up singles to Prince Fielder and Rougned Odor. A’s manager Bob Melvin decided to End Surkamp’s misery and brought in Marc Rzepczynski to pitch. Elvis Andrus singled to drive in Fielder and Odor scored when Danny Valencia failed to catch Khris Davis’ throw from left field.

The A’s scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth. Jed Lowrie started the rally with a single. Danny Valencia followed with a single. Khris Davis drove in his second run of the night with another single. Valencia advanced to third on the play and scored on a sac fly. Josh Phegley then doubled to drive in Davis all the way from first. Marcus Semien ground out to end the inning. The A’s trail 7-4 after six.

Texas added a run in the eighth on an Elvis Andrus solo home run and two more on four hits in the ninth to make it a 10-4 game heading into the bottom of the ninth. The A’s rallied to score two in the bottom of the ninth, but they just couldn’t pull it out.

Game Notes-Billy Burns had two hits in the contest as did Khris Davis. Davis knocked in two more to give him forty-four RBIs for the year.

The Texas Rangers have won thirteen of their last eighteen and own the best record in the AL at 40-25. Ryan Rua was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and is hitting .370 with five homers and twelve ribbies in his last eighteen games.

Sean Manaea was placed on the fifteen-day DL after an injury to his forearm. The MRI showed no structural damage but there may be underlying problems.

The A’s celebrated Gay Pride Tuesday night and had  moment of silence for the victims of the shootings in Orlando over the weekend.

Game three of the series will be played Wednesday night at 7:05 pm. Sonny Gray will pitch for Oakland, and the Rangers will send their third lefty starter, Derek Holland, to the hill.

Time of game was three hours and eight minutes, and 13,101 hardy souls watched the Rangers snap the A’s modest two-game winning streak.