Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas (47) surrendered five runs in the first inning including a home run to the Texas Rangers Andy Ibanez (77) circling first base at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Mon Jun 21, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (44-30) arrived in Arlington, Texas, Monday to start a four-game series with the lowly Texas Rangers (26-46) the Rangers wasted no time getting on the scoreboard in the first inning scoring five runs and it stood up for a 8-3 win at the Ballpark in Arlington.

The A’s played a hard-fought three-game set with the Yankees over the weekend. With just a little bit more good fortune, the A’s could have swept the Bronx Bombers, but things did not go their way in games two and three. The Yanks received a sterling relief performance from Nestor Cortes on Saturday.

The A’s were on the verge of breaking the game open when Cortes entered the game with the bases loaded and no out. Cortes pitched three scoreless innings, allowing New York to chip away at the A’s 4-1 advantage. The Yanks fought back to win 7-5.

In the Sunday game, with men on at first and second with no out, A’s catcher Sean Murphy hit a rocket down the third baseline. Yankees’ third baseman, Gio Urshela, picked the ball up, stepped on third for the first out, fired to second for the second, and the relay to first completed a triple play to end the game.

Monday Night Baseball: The A’s wanted to end the two-game losing streak Monday night against the Rangers. The Rangers had lost six in a row and have found themselves in the AL West basement. The Rangers sent Kyle Gibson to the mound to snap the losing streak.

Gibson did the job as he went four and 1/3rd innings without giving up a hit. The A’s Frankie Montas had a rough first inning. The Rangers put five runs on the board in the first inning. The Rangers went on to win 8-3.

The Rangers, as mentioned above, had no trouble figuring out Frankie Montas. With one out, Brock Holt singled. Rookie Adolis Garcia doubled to drive in Holt with the first run of the game. Joey Gallo walked. Rangers’ first baseman Nate Lowe doubled to drive in Garcia. Gallo stopped at third. The next hitter, Andy Ibanez, hitting about a buck fifty, hit his first home run of the year to put Texas ahead 5-0.

The A’s catcher Sean Murphy homered with one out in the fifth to make it a 5-1 game. The A’s put another run on the board in the sixth. They trailed 5-2 at this point. Montas was still pitching for Oakland. Frankie allowed just one hit in the four innings after the disastrous first frame.

The Rangers tallied three more in their half of the sixth. Montas retired the first two hitters but could not finish the inning. He gave up a single to Willie Calhoun and hit Eli WHite with a pitch.

Rangers’ catcher Jose Trevino ended Montas’ night when he blasted a three-run homer to make it 8-2. The A’s added a run in the seventh, but it was too little, too late. The Rangers win 8-3

Game Notes and stats- With the loss, the A’s are 44-30 for the season. They are now in second place in the AL West and will trail the Houston Astros by one full game as Houston is on its way to a big win over the Baltimore Orioles. The Rangers are 26-46.

Frankie Montas was the losing pitcher. He is 7-7 for the year. His line was five and 2/3rds innings of work. He allowed eight runs, all earned, and nine hits. He struck out six, walked two, and gave up two three-run home runs: the A’s used three relievers, Bedrosian, Guerra, and rookie Domingo Acevedo.

Acevedo made his Major League debut Monday night. He faced four hitters and allowed a single. To make room for Acevedo on the roster, The A’s sent lefty Jesus Luzardo to Triple-A Las Vegas. The A’s want Luzardo to get more work as they intend to use him as a starter later in the season.

The A’s line was three runs, seven hits, and no errors. The Rangers’ line was eight runs, ten hits, and two errors. The teams will play game two of the series Tuesday night at Globe Life Stadium. Lefty Cole Irvin goes for Oakland. Lefty Taylor Hearn will pitch for Texas. The game starts at 5:05 pm. The Game will be televised on YouTube TV.