One day after the Rangers pummeled the Mariners in a make-up game, 8-0, Oakland starting pitcher Cole Irvin shut down Texas hitters, allowing just three hits in seven innings of work, giving the A’s a 5-4 win in the Bay Area.
“I’m still trying to find things that work for me and allow me to be the most consistent I can be at home and on the road,” Irvin told MLB.com after his latest outing. “It’s still a learning process, still a learning curve, and what’s great about this game is you can never stop learning.”
The Rangers are added to the list of big-league teams to be shut down by Irvin of late. In his last outing against AL West front-runner Houston, Irvin allowed just three hits, one run, and four strikeouts, almost identical to his outing in Oakland against Texas on July 22. Irvin struck out eight Ranger batters over seven innings on Friday, allowing a lone earned run and walking just one in the victory.
Spencer Howard got the starting nod for the Rangers on Friday, and the 25-year-old righty lasted 4.2 innings and allowed four earned runs on six hits while walking and striking out three.
Texas was able to knot the contest at 1-1 before Spencer departed, but the Ranger’s pitcher allowed three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for the eventual loss that drops his record to 1-2 on the season and inflates his ERA to 7.11. Adolis Garcia picked up RBI number 55 on the year when he batted in Corey Seager in the inning.
Texas mounted a comeback in the eighth inning when Marcus Semien belted in Leody Taveras to cut the A’s lead to 4-2.
In the top of the ninth, now trailing by a 5-2 tally, Nathaniel Lowe hit his 13th home run of the season, a two-out job that kept the game alive. Taveras followed Lowe’s at-bat with a walk, and Ezequiel Duran slapped a sharp line drive to left field, pushing Taveras third and bringing the tying run to home plate.
Josh H. Smith raked a single to right to score Taveras to bring the score to 5-4. A’s reliever A.J. Puk plunked Kole Calhoun with a pitch to load the bases. Semien would finish with a 2-for-5 day with the bat, grounded out to third, ending the Ranger-rally, dropping Texas to eight games under.500 (42-50.)
The loss drops Texas 19 games behind the Astros in the AL West, nine games behind second-place Seattle, and eight out of the last wild card spot.
