Oakland A’s Lawrence Butler (4) rounds the bases after slugging his 19th home run of the season in the top of the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Sat Aug 31, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

The Oakland A’s (59-77) fought their way back into this game after trailing 2-0. Another Lawrence Butler home run cut the Texas Rangers (64-72) lead in half in the fourth inning. The A’s tied up the game in the 6th inning when Brent Rooker doubled Lawrence Butler home.

It was a new ball game but it all came crashing down when A’s pitcher Tyler Ferguson loaded the bases with one out. A single from Leody Taveras was all it took for the 3-2 Ranger’s win.

Game recap: The Rangers took the early lead in the second inning 2-0. Jonas Heim hit a 373 feet home run with Nathaniel Lowe on base and that would be the only scoring for the Rangers going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

The Oakland A’s had some catching up to do trailing by a couple of runs. In the fourth inning Lawrence Butler cut the Rangers lead in half with a 367 feet home run. This was his sixth home run in five games. The A’s tied up this game in the 6th inning with a Brent Rooker double and a Lawrence Butler score. Neither team was able to reach home plate going into the bottom of the ninth inning.

Tyler Ferguson remained on the mound for the ninth inning after pitching the eighth and ran into some trouble. He hit Nathaniel Lowe followed by a Carson Kelly single. Jonas Heim popped out but then Ferguson walked Travis Jankowski and the bases were loaded with one out. Texas had a serious chance to walk off this game and that is exactly how this game ended. Leody Taveras singled and Ezequiel Duran ( who ran for Lowe) scored for the 3-2 win.

Oakland fought their way back into this game but they were unable to score another run in the game after the sixth inning. They went three and out in the seventh and eighth innings. They left two runners on base in the ninth inning but could not bring them home. Oakland finished this game with five hits, the Rangers with nine hits.

Oakland’s Joey Estes had a nice outing going six innings and allowing six hits, two runs, no walks with seven strikeouts. The Rangers starter Cody Bradford went seven innings allowing four hits, two runs, no walks with eight strikeouts in a solid game.

Game recap: After winning game one of their series with the Rangers Friday night 9-2, the A’s took the field in game two looking for another win. . Friday night the game was attended by over 28,000 fans and on Saturday night another well attended game for game two at Globe Life with 28,454.

It was a well pitched game Rangers starter Cody Bradford went seven innings, allowed four hits, two earned runs and eight strike outs. For the A’s Joey Estes six innings, six hits, two earned runs and seven strikeouts.

Sunday Oakland will be looking to win this series in game three. Mitch Spence will take the mound for the A’s with a 7-9 win/loss record and a 4.54 ERA. At the time of this post, the Rangers have not decided on a starting pitcher. First pitch for this game is scheduled for Sunday at 11:35 AM.