by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: The Oakland A’s shortstop Marcus Semien (10) puts the tag on the Texas Rangers Rougned Odor (12) after attempting to stretch a hit into a double at Arlington on Tuesday night

The A’s evened the series with the Texas Rangers at one apiece when they beat them 6-3 Tuesday at the Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The A’s ace, Sonny Gray, pitched well for the first four innings of the game. He unraveled a bit in the fifth as the Rangers had five straight hits and scored three times. Josh Reddick had the defensive play of the night when he threw out Rougned Odor at second when he tried to stretch a single into a double. Gray righted the ship and pitched a clean sixth inning, and the A’s bullpen did not allow Texas to score in either the seventh, eighth, or ninth innings to preserve the win.

The A’s scored three times in the fourth inning. The veteran center fielder, Coco Crisp, hit a solo homer with no on and no out for the A’s first run. It was the eighth of the year for Coco. Josh Reddick hit his seventh of the year with a man aboard to put the A’s ahead 3-0.

The A’s scored two more in the fifth. Marcus Semien hit his twenty-first of the year to center with nobody aboard. Reddick drove in his third run of the game later in the inning. The Rangers scored three runs in their half of the fifth. The Rangers’ Joey Gallo hit a solo homer to put Texas on the board. It was the first dinger of the yer for Gallo. Later in the inning, big Mitch Moreland hit a two-run blast to reduce the deficit to two.

There was no more scoring in the game until the ninth inning. The A’s put an insurance run on the board, nd they won by a final of 6-3.

Game Notes- With the win, the A’s improve to 8-4 since the All-Star break and 46-55 for the season. The Rangers drop to 58-43 and are still in first place in the AL West.The Astros lost to the Yankees and they trail the Rangers by 3.5 games. The A’s are in fourth place twelve games behind Texas in the division.

The rubber game will be played Wednesday night at 5:05 pm in Texas. Lefty Sean Manaea will go for Oakland. Manaea had his best game of the year against Tampa Bay last week and the A’s are hoping he can continue to pitch well. Yu Darvish, on the comeback trail, will pitch for the Rangers.