Oakland A’s pitcher Ross Stripling (36) stands on the mound to be removed from the game next to catcher Kyle McCann (52) in the top of the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Oakland Coliseum on Tue May 7, 2024 (AP News photo)

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Oakland, California

Texas Rangers 15 (21-17)

Oakland Athletics 8 (17-20)

Win: Jose Urena (1-2)

Loss: Ross Stripling (1-6)

Time: 3:07

Attendance: 3,965

By Stephen Ruderman

OAKLAND–The Rangers beat the A’s 15-8 thanks to a 10-run second inning to hand the A’s their third-straight loss, but the A’s showed tremendous resilience despite it.

Following their six-game winning streak that got them up to .500, the A’s dropped two-straight. Today, they would send Ross Stripling, who has been off to a tough start this season, to the mound as they looked to stop the snide.

Stripling’s struggles continued when Marcus Semian hit a home run just to the left of straight-away center field on the first pitch of the game. The Rangers threatened further damage after base-hits by Nathaniel Lowe and Evan Carter, but Stripling got Josh Smith to fly out to center to end the inning after giving up just the run on the home run.

Texas went with the veteran right-hander, Jose Urena. Abraham Toro lined a base-hit up the middle and into center field to start the bottom of the first, and Seth Brown walked with two outs, but J.D. Davis lined out to right to end the inning.

Stripling may have escaped further damage in the top of the first, but the top of the second would be an absolute nightmare for him. Travis Jankowski and Jonah Heim singled to put runners at the corners with nobody out. Leody Tavares and Marcus Semien then singled to knock in Jankowski and Heim respectively, and the Rangers led 3-0.

The Rangers were just getting started. Corey Seager hit a ground ball to first-baseman J.D. Davis, and when Davis threw to second to try and get Semien, the ball sailed into left field, as Tavares scored to make it 4-0. Lowe walked to load the bases, and Adolis Garcia walked to make it 5-0.

Evan Carter popped out to third-baseman Brett Harrris for the first out eight batters into the inning, and Josh Smith singled to score Seager and move each runner up one base. Jankowski struck out swinging for the second, but the Rangers were still far from done.

Heim singled on a ground ball up the middle to knock in a pair and make it 8-0, and Tavares hit a texas-leaguer to left to score Smith and make it 9-0. That did it for Ross Stripling, who lasted just an inning and two-thirds.

“[I’m] definitely bummed,” said Stripling. “I feel like one thing I’ve been able to mostly do this year is get through five [innings] and into the sixth, and save the bullpen…..today, [I was] not able to do that.”

Mark Kotsay brought in Hogan Harris, who immediately gave up a two-run double to Marcus Semien, who had already hit for three legs on the cycle in just the second inning. Seager singled and Lowe walked to bring up Adolis Garcia, who was the 16th batter of the inning.

The Rangers were two batters away from batting around twice in the inning, but Garcia struck out swinging, and Texas would have to settle for just 10 runs in the top of the second inning. Of the 10 runs, only four of them were earned, as the other six came as a consequence of Davis’ error.

To the A’s credit, they did not go down quietly in the bottom of the second. Kyle McCann doubled on a fly ball to left that left-fielder Evan Carter lost in the sun. Lawrence Butler grounded out to second to move McCann over to third.

The A’s got on the board when Darell Hernaiz reached on a throwing error by shortstop Corey Seager, but Hernaiz injured his left ankle after his foot landed awkwardly on the bag at first. Hernaiz was down for a few minutes, as the injury looked quite severe. He did have to leave the game, but he was able to walk off on his own power, as Max Schuemann came in to pinch-run.

Brett Harris walked, and Abraham singled to load the bases. Bren Rooker then hit a squibber off the end of the bat to third that Josh Smith charged and had to play on to make it 11-2. Seth Brown grounded out to end the inning, but the A’s would not be done either.

The third inning was the exact opposite of the second. Hogan Harris was back out for the top of the third and threw a 1-2-3 inning, as did Urena in the bottom of the third.

The Rangers scored four more runs off Harris in the top of the fourth to extend their already-enormous lead to 15-2, and Urena pitched a scoreless bottom of the fourth. Urena pitched a 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fifth to end his afternoon.

Hogan Harris was still going and threw a 1-2-3 top of the sixth. Bruce Bochy made a plethora of defensive changes for Texas and brought in Jonathan Hernandez to pitch the bottom of the sixth.

McCann, Schuemann and Brett Harris all walked to load the bases for Abraham Toro. Hernandez threw a wild pitch, which allowed McCann to score to make it 15-3, and Toro grounded out to second to make it 15-4.

JJ Bleday and Brent Rooker walked to load the bases, as the A’s had an opportunity to put a further dent in Texas’ lead, but Bochy pulled Hernandez for Yerry Rodriguez, who got Seth Brown to ground out to first to end the inning.

Hogan Harris pitched through a two-out error in the top of the seventh, and that would be the end of his afternoon. Harris didn’t have the greatest outing of all-time, but he did exactly what the A’s needed him to do after Stripling only went an inning and two-thirds. Harris ended up going five and two-thirds, and with a doubleheader tomorrow, he single-handedly saved the A’s bullpen.

“Hogan did a nice job coming in,” said Kotsay. He had one bad inning, but other than that, he threw up some zeroes, had some life to his fastball and threw strikes. For Hogan to get that deep into a game, coming into a game in the second and [getting us through the seventh], it was nice.”

Yerry Rodriguez stayed out for the bottom of the seventh, but Bochy removed Marcus Semien after a 4-for-5 performance despite being a triple away from the cycle. J.D. Davis grounded out to first to start the inning, but McCann hit a home run to center to make it 15-5. For McCann, he ended up scoring three of the A’s five runs this afternoon.

Kotsay then brought in 30-year-old Tyler Ferguson, who finally made his major league debut after over eight years in the minor leagues. It was the Rangers who drafted Ferguson in 2015, so his debut had extra significance to it. Ferguson walked Leody Tavarez to start the inning, but he got Jonathan Ornelas to fly out to left, and he struck out Davis Wendzel and Nathaniel Lowe, both looking.

Rodriguez was still on the mound for Texas in the bottom of the eighth, and he struck out Toro looking to start the inning. However, the A’s still had life in them, just as they had all game. Bleday lined a base-hit to center; Rooker walked; and Seth Brown hit a three-run home run to right-center to make it 15-8.

Ferguson was back out for the ninth and set down the first two men he faced, but he ran into trouble with two outs. Josh Smith doubled to right; Jankowski was hit by a pitch; and Andrew Knizer walked to load the bases. Ferguson then engaged in a 10-pitch battle with Leody Tavares and won it, as Tavares ended up flying out to left to end the inning.

“[Ferguson] got his first major league strikeout, which was great,” said Kotsay. “[He] pitched out of a bases-loaded jam there in the ninth and made pitches when he had to. [He was] maybe a little nervous, [and] a little anxious in terms of his command, but he did a nice job as well in [helping us] not having to go back into the bullpen again and pitching those two innings for us.”

“[I] really liked him in Spring Training,” said Stripling. “He obviously was there to the very end. It felt like he was probably one of our last guys that we were debating whether he would make the team or not…..some [journey men] like that make it, and [I] just couldn’t be more happy for him…..hopefully a day like today makes it all worth it for him.”

Cole Winn was summoned by Bochy for the bottom of the ninth, and he pitched a scoreless inning to end it, as the A’s simply ran out of juice.

The A’s have dropped three straight and fall to 17-20, but despite the 10-run second inning and the lopsided score, they showed resilience all afternoon and believed they could come back the entire time. This A’s team clearly believes in themselves, and that is really what has made them fun and exciting to watch this season.

“[Our] offense continued to take good at-bats, and that shows their character, that shows their grit,” said Kotsay. “They didn’t just give at-bats away…..for our guys to continue to fight, continue to put up some runs there and add to a score where we were really far behind and give us a chance to continue forward, it was good.”

The A’s will close out the series with a doubleheader tomorrow. The left-hander, JP Sears, will make the start in the first game, which will get underway at 12:37 p.m.

News and Notes:

Darell Hernaiz underwent an MRI on his left ankle after the game. Manager Mark Kotsay believes it is most likely a sprain, but the A’s will give an update on Hernaiz before the game tomorrow.