by Jerry Feitelberg
AP photo: Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish looks at the plate from the mound in the seventh had command over the Oakland A’s on Wednesday night at the Ball Park in Arlington
Arlington, Texas- The Texas Rangers, behind a terrific pitching performance by Yu Darvish and clutch hitting by Ian Desmond and Jonathan Lucroy, beat the A’s 6-2 to sweep the three-game series. Darvish earned his second win ever over the A’s. The A’s, in the past, owned Darvish. Darvish won his first start against the A’s in a rookie season and was 0-8 against them until Wednesday night. The A’s rookie lefty, Sean Manaea, pitched well for four innings. The Rangers scored twice in the fifth and three in the seventh. Manaea absorbed his eighth loss of the year. He went six-plus innings and allowed nine hits and five runs.
The A’s got off to a good start in the first inning. Coco Crisp hit a solo homer on just the second pitch of the game. It was his eleventh homer of the year. The Rangers tied the game in the bottom of then fourth when Jonathan Lucroy slammed a pitch into the left-field seats. Lucroy, an All-Star in Milwaukee, is thriving in Texas since his arrival at the trade deadline. The game is even at one after four innings of play.
The A’s regained the lead in the fifth. Jake Smolinski hit his seventh homer of the year leading off the inning. The lead didn’t last long as the Rangers scored two in their half of the fifth. Ranger shortstop, Elvis Andrus, led off with a single. With one out, Delino DeShields doubled to put men on at second and third with one out. Ian Desmond followed with a single to put the Rangers in the lead 3-2.
The Rangers score three more in the seventh. Ian Desmond had a single with the bases loaded to drive in the Rangers’ fourth run. Carlos Beltran hit into a 4-2-3 double play. The A’s issued a free pass to Adrian Beltre to load the bases for the second time in the inning. Lucroy doubled down the right field line to drive in the final two runs of the game. The Ranger bullpen shut the A’s down in the eighth and ninth to secure the win for Texas.
Game Notes- The hitting stars for Texas were Jonathan Lucroy and Ian Desmond. Lucroy had a homer and double and knocked in three.Desmond had two singles, and he also had three ribbies.Yu Darvish improved to 4-3. Darvish pitched seven-plus innings and allowed eight hits and two runs.
The A’s have lost five straight and six of the last seven. The A’s were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position Wednesday and 2-for- 23 in the last two games. The A’s are now 52-69 and are seventeen games under .500.
The A’s made some roster moves Wednesday.The A’s called up Chad Pinder from Triple-A Nashville. Pinder can fill in at either shortstop or second base. The A’s placedTyler Ladendorf on the 15-day DL with a sprained wrist and Jed Lowrie was moved to the 60-day DL.
The A’s are off on Thursday and will face the Chicago White Sox in Chicago for three games in Chicago.
Time of game was two hours and fifty-four minutes, and 26,743 people were on hand to see the Rangers complete the sweep.
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