By Matthew T.F. Harrington

AP photo: The Texas Rangers Jonathan Lucroy connected for a single that scored two runs gets a post game dousing from teammates Elvis Andrus and Rougned Odor (12) as Oakland A’s reliever Ryan Madson is pinned for the loss at the Ball Park in Arlington

The Texas Rangers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning of A’s closer Ryan Madson for a walk-off win, snapping Oakland’s four-game win streak in the process. Jonathan Lucroy singled in a pair of runs to give the Rangers (88-60) a 9 ½ game lead over Seattle in the American League West. Khris Davis hit a two-run homerun for the A’s while Brett Eibner knocked in four runs including a solo homer.

The A’s (64-83) held a 6-2 lead in the sixth inning but the Rangers scored 5 unanswered runs to give Madson (5-6, 3.43 ERA) his 7^th blown save of the year. Madson coaxed a ground out from Ian Desmond to open the inning, then gave up a double to Carlos Beltran. Beltran was lifted for pinch-runner Delino DeShields who advanced to third on a wild pitch. Adrian Beltre walked to put the winning run on base, then had Joey Gallo replace him on the base paths.

Gallo swiped second while Madson struck Rougned Odor out, moving the winning run into scoring position with two outs. Lucroy, a trade deadline acquisition, took Madson’s first offering, a 94 mile-per-hour fastball down the third base line for the winning hit. Sam Dyson (2-2, 2.62)  wound up the winning pitcher after pitching a scoreless top of the ninth.

The A’s jumped on starter Cole Hamels, scoring three runs in the top of the 4^th. With Danny Valencia running on the pitch, Davis ripped a 2-2 offspeed offering to the opposite field in right for his 38^th homer of the season. It’s the highest single-season total by an Athletic since Hall of Famer Frank Thomas went yard 39 times in 2006. Eibner would also single in Ryon Healy in the frame.

The Rangers would score two runs off Oakland starter Kendall Graveman in the bottom of the fifth, but after Eibner would let loose his 6^th big fly of the season with Danny Valencia and Stephen Vogt on base for a 6-2 lead. The Rangers would plate two more runs off Graveman in the bottom of the sixth, then pull within one run after Carlos Gomez took Ryan Dull deep for his 10^th homer of the season, a solo blast to make it 6-5 A’s.

One positive for the A’s came in the top of the sixth. Rookie Renato Nunez singled up the middle off Cole Hamels for his first career hit. If he’s in the line-up tomorrow, he’ll look to support fellow rookie Raul Alcantara in picking up his first win. The A’s will have to go through Rangers ace Yu Darvish in order to do so.