Photo credit: @Athletics

By: Mary Anne

The Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers ended their series on Sunday. The A’s dropped a 4-9 decision to the Rangers in their series finale at Globe Life Field. Oakland fell to 44-99, while Texas improved to 78-64.

The A’s starting lineup featured Tony Kemp, Zack Gelof, Ryan Noda, Seth Brown, Jordan Diaz, Lawrence Butler, Kevin Smith, Tyler Sodestrom, Esteury Ruiz, and Luis Medina. Medina (3-9, 5.68 ERA) took the loss after pitching for 4 1/3 innings and giving up six hits, five earned runs, three walks, three strikeouts, and one home run.

The Rangers did it big in the first inning. Marcus Semien, a former A’s shortstop and second baseman, homered on a fly ball to left field for an early 1-0 lead. Robbie Grossman hit a ground-rule double on a line drive to center field. Nathaniel Lowe and Mitch Garver scored to make it a 3-0 game.

The A’s finally got on the board in the third inning. Tyler Sodestrom homered on a line drive to right field to cut the Rangers’ lead to 3-1. Seth Brown singled on a sharp line drive to Robbie Grossman. Zack Gelof scored to make it a one-run game, 3-2, as Ryan Noda went to third base. Jordan Diaz singled on a line drive to Leody Taveras. Noda scored to tie the game 3-3, as Brown went to second base. Lawrence Butler reached on a fielding error by Josh H. Smith. Brown scored for a 4-3 lead, as Jordan Diaz went to third base and Butler went to second base.

The Rangers regained the lead in the fifth inning. Nathaniel Lowe singled on a line drive to Tony Kemp. Marcus Semien and Corey Seager scored for a 5-4 lead, as Lowe went to second base. Lowe advanced to second base on a throwing error by Kemp.

The Rangers poured in the runs in the sixth inning. Josh H. Smith tripled on a sharp line drive to Esteury Ruiz. Leodys Taveras scored for a 6-4 lead. Evan Carter was out on a sacrifice fly to Lawrence Butler. Smith scored to make it a 7-4 game with two outs. Marcus Semien homered on a fly ball to left-center field to double the lead to 8-4. Corey Seager homered on a line drive to right field to expand the lead to 9-4.

Notes
The A’s wished the San Francisco 49ers good luck this season.

The A’s rejected an offer from the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, a local Black-owned development group, to buy half of the Coliseum. A’s president, Dave Kaval, sent a letter to AASEG leader Ray Bobbitt on Wednesday saying that they appreciate the offer but aren’t interested in selling or disposing of their interest in the Coliseum.

Up Next
The A’s will take on the Houston Astros for a three-game series starting Monday at 5:10 p.m. Pacific.