The Athletics did enough early, found two big swings late, and survived one last scare to finish it.
The A’s beat the Rangers 6-5 on Wednesday night at Sutter Health Park, moving a game clear of Texas for first place in the AL West. It was their second straight win over the Rangers and their eighth in the last 10, even if this one got far tighter than it should have.
Early answer, then a stall
Texas grabbed the first run in the opening inning when Brandon Nimmo doubled and Jake Burger followed with a two-out RBI single. But J.T. Ginn settled in quickly, and the Athletics answered before long.
Tyler Soderstrom tied it in the first with a two-out RBI double after Carlos Cortes walked. Then the A’s moved ahead in the second when Max Muncy was hit by a pitch, stole second, reached third on a groundout and scored on Denzel Clarke’s two-out single.
That 2-1 lead did not last. Corey Seager tied it in the third with a two-run homer to right-center after Nimmo walked. Still, Ginn recovered and kept the Rangers there. He worked 5 1/3 innings, allowed two runs on two hits, walked four and struck out three.
Two swings put them in control
The Athletics had a chance to break it open in the fifth but left the bases loaded. They did not waste the next one.
In the sixth, Lawrence Butler singled and Clarke moved him over with a bunt. Two outs later, Shea Langeliers drove a 112.4 mph homer to left-center for a 4-2 lead.
Then Jacob Wilson added more in the seventh. After Soderstrom walked, Wilson launched his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to left that pushed the lead to 6-2.
At that point, the A’s looked in full control.
It almost got away
Then came the eighth.
Mark Leiter Jr. got the first out, but Seager walked and Wyatt Langford singled. Two outs later, Burger turned on a pitch and hit a three-run homer to left, cutting the lead to 6-5 in a hurry.
That changed the feel of the whole night. Joel Kuhnel had to get the final out of the eighth, then came back for the ninth. He struck out Josh Smith, got Danny Jansen to pop out and finished it by punching out Andrew McCutchen for his third save.
Numbers that mattered
Langeliers finished 2-for-5 with the go-ahead two-run homer. Wilson went 2-for-4 and drove in two, while Soderstrom scored twice and added an RBI double. Clarke also drove in a run, and Butler scored once after reaching on a single in the sixth.
The A’s managed only seven hits, but they made the big ones count. They also drew six walks and got enough traffic to force Texas starter Kumar Rocker into 97 pitches in 4 2/3 innings.
For the Rangers, Seager and Burger supplied all five runs. Seager went 1-for-3 with the two-run homer, and Burger’s three-run shot nearly stole the game late.
First place, for now
It is still only April, but the standings look better when the games keep ending like this.
The Athletics did not play a clean cruise-control game. They let Texas back in it, and they had to sweat the final six outs. But they got the timely hit from Langeliers, the milestone homer from Wilson and just enough relief work to hold first place on their own.
Up next
The Athletics wrap up the series against the Rangers on Thursday at 12:35 p.m. PT at Sutter Health Park. The A’s have not announced a starter.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
