Texas Rangers Brandon Nimmo is thrilled after hitting a two run RBI single with the bases loaded against the Sacramento A’s at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Tue Sep 1, 2026 (AP News photo)

By Mauricio Segura

Rangers Brandon Nimmo kept putting more distance between the Texas Rangers and the Sacramento A’s all Tuesday night. Nimmo went 4-for-5 with a double and five RBIs, driving the Rangers’ offense in an 8-5 loss for the Green and Gold. The defeat dropped the A’s to 53-86 after they began play at a season-low 32 games under .500 and already assured of a fifth straight losing season.

Texas struck first when Corey Seager doubled in the opening inning and scored on Nimmo’s ground-ball double to left. The A’s answered in the third. Zack Gelof reached on an infield single and moved to second on Cody Freeman’s throwing error, then Lawrence Butler sent a single into center to bring Gelof home. Jonah Heim followed with another single, and Michael Stefanic drew a walk to load the bases, but Jeff McNeil flied out to end the threat. Butler’s hit extended his season-best hitting streak to 10 games after he had gone 12-for-30 during the previous nine.

The tie lasted only a few minutes. Seager doubled again in the bottom of the third, ending Brady Basso’s outing, and Nimmo greeted Scott Blewett with an RBI single for a 2-1 Texas lead. Basso worked 2 1/3 innings before the bullpen took over.

The A’s also lost first baseman Tommy White, who left because of a back injury, forcing Stefanic into the game and moving McNeil from second base to first. Denzel Clarke, reinstated from the 60-day injured list after a lengthy absence, started in center and went 0-for-2 before Carlos Cortes hit for him. Clarke had not played in the majors since April.

Texas broke the game apart in the fifth. Joc Pederson singled, Seager walked and Wyatt Langford singled to fill the bases. Nimmo then drove home Pederson and Seager with a single to right, and Ezequiel Duran’s groundout scored Langford for a 5-1 lead. One inning later, Evan Carter’s bunt single and Elias Díaz’s double set up sacrifice flies by Logan O’Hoppe and Seager. Langford then doubled, and Nimmo’s fourth hit scored him to make it 8-1.

There was at least one encouraging turn from the A’s bullpen. Yunior Tur, recalled earlier in the day, replaced José Suarez in the sixth and retired Nicky Lopez to end the inning. Tur then worked through the seventh and eighth without allowing a hit, finishing 2 1/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and one walk. Before this outing, he had allowed 17 runs and 14 hits in the first 4 2/3 innings of his major-league career.

The A’s did not fold. Gelof walked to begin the seventh, Heim singled, and Stefanic delivered an RBI single. McNeil was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but Max Muncy grounded into a double play. In the eighth, Cortes and Henry Bolte singled before Gelof walked, and Butler’s sacrifice fly made it 8-3. The Athletics had 11 hits and drew seven walks, yet the bigger innings never followed.

The ninth gave the score a more respectable look and McNeil another productive night. Stefanic singled, and McNeil launched a two-run homer to right-center, cutting the deficit to 8-5. McNeil finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs, continuing a strong second half after batting .341 in his first 36 games following the All-Star break, a mark that ranked third in the majors before play. Donovan Walton was hit by a pitch after the homer, but Darell Hernaiz and Bolte struck out to end the game.

Wednesday’s finale will decide the season series, with the A’s Jacob Lopez (5-4, 4.82 ERA, 96 K) facing Rangers fellow left-hander Cody Bradford (0-3, 3.42 ERA, 13 K); first pitch is set for 11:35 a.m. Pacific, giving the A’s one more chance to take the season matchup from Texas.

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.

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