Sacramento A’s catcher Shea Langeliers is way in front of the plate to put the tag on the Texas Rangers Wyatt Langford (36) in the bottom of the sixth at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Tue Apr 29, 2025 (AP News photo)

Rangers Two Explosive Innings Demolish The A’s 15-2

By Mauricio Segura

The green and gold were corralled and roped off by the Texas Rangers Tuesday night, as Texas unleashed an 11-run sixth inning en route to a 15-2 hot iron branding of the Sacramento Athletics at Globe Life Field. What began as a quiet duel between two evenly matched AL West squads quickly turned into a Texas-style blowout, snapping the A’s modest two-game win streak and dropping them back to an even 15-15 on the season.

Left-hander Jacob Lopez, making his first start of the year for the A’s, navigated early trouble but unraveled in the third inning. After walking a tightrope through two innings, Lopez surrendered three straight run-scoring singles to Jake Burger, Leody Taveras, and Jonah Heim, allowing Texas to build a 3-0 lead. The Rangers added another in the fourth and then torched the A’s bullpen in the sixth leaving just smoldering ash in their wake.

That inning alone saw the Rangers send 13 men to the plate. Marcus Semien got it started with an RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded, bases-clearing double from Adolis García. Rookie Wyatt Langford followed with a three-run double of his own, and Josh Smith capped the barrage with his second RBI single of the night. By the time the dust settled, the A’s had used three pitchers and watched an 0-4 deficit balloon to 0-12.

Shea Langeliers finally gave the Athletics something to cheer about in the seventh, launching his sixth home run of the year, a two-run shot to left. It was Langeliers’ 11th career blast against Texas, and his seventh at Globe Life Field, both the most he’s had against any opponent and in any visiting ballpark.

Unfortunately for the A’s, those were the only runs they could muster against Texas starter Jacob deGrom and reliever Dane Dunning, who combined for ten strikeouts and just five hits allowed.

The loss overshadowed several recent bright spots for the A’s. They entered Tuesday having won five of their last six and leading the season series against Texas 3-1. They also boasted the best road record in the majors, but now face the challenge of bouncing back with two games left in Arlington.

Jacob Lopez, despite showing promise in prior relief outings, lasted just 2.2 innings and was tagged with his first earned runs of the season. The bullpen, solid in recent weeks, was shelled for 12 runs over 5.1 innings.

Langeliers’ homer was one of the few silver linings. Tyler Soderstrom, who leads the team in home runs, went hitless and saw his RBI total remain at 24. Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker each had two hits, but the A’s struck out 11 times and grounded into two double plays.

The A’s will look to rebound Wednesday behind Luis Severino, who leads the majors in innings pitched, against Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi. If the green and gold want to leave Texas with a winning road trip, it’ll start with stopping the bleeding in Game 2.

Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.