A’s plagued by home runs in loss to Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas — The A’s arrived to Globe Life Park just as Texas was going through a heat wave. Apparently the Rangers bats are also heating up.
The A’s managed to out-hit the Rangers and still lose 7-4 as the Rangers crushed a season-high five home runs Tuesday night.
Lou Trivino, the impressive rookie who entered the night lights out as the A’s set up man, turned in his first bad outing of his career as he surrendered two home runs in the eighth, a solo shot to Adrian Beltre and two-run homer to Joey Gallo, to break a 4-4 tie and give the Rangers a late three-run lead.
From shaving his head bald to debuting a new high socks look on the mound, Sean Manaea has tried everything he can to get back on track. There was still some shakiness, but Manaea turned in a much better performance this time out, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings of work.
Though he was no longer in line for a potential win after Yusmeiro Petit surrendered a game-tying two-run homer to Shin-Soo Choo in the seventh, Manaea was just happy to see the calendar turn from an ugly month of May that saw him go 1-4 with a 7.18 ERA in six starts.
The Rangers seem to always bring out the best in Khris Davis. The A’s slugger went 2 for 2 with a home run, double, two walks and two RBIs. Davis’ solo home run off Matt Moore was his 14th of the year as he now has 20 career home runs and 45 career RBIs against Texas, both his most against any team. It was also his 99th home run since the start of the 2016 season, tied with Giancarlo Stanton for most in the majors over that span.
A's manager Bob Melvin responds to Kyler Murray playing football
The Oakland Athletics stole MLB draft headlines with their selection of Oklahoma quarterback and former Allen star Kyler Murray with the No. 9 overall pick.
The selection, along with the slot bonus that comes with being such a high pick, put into question whether Murray's career at OU would end before it ever really began. But the quarterback confirmed Monday he will remain at Oklahoma and play football this fall.
Oakland manager Bob Melvin was asked about what he called an 'interesting' selection prior to his team's game
against the Texas Rangers in Arlington on Tuesday.
"What I'm hearing about his athleticism, it's off the charts," Melvin said. "We've seen athletes like Bo Jackson and Kirk Gibson and these guys really have great careers, and you're looking a lot of times for the best athlete. And apparently this was the guy."
"I don't know that it gets me off of Cal football to root for Oklahoma football, but we will definitely watch Oklahoma football a little closer this year."
After the pick was made, much of the reaction focused on the dangers Murray may face by continuing his career in football rather than trading in his helmet and pads for his hat and glove (and 'STUPID!!' baseball money) full time.
Does Murray leading the Sooners on the field in 2019 concern Melvin?
"Not really," said Melvin. "You can get injured walking across the street let alone playing football. Our guys felt good enough to where we would give him the opportunity to do this, knowing he'll come and play baseball for us after that. I'm not sure of everything that went down as far as negotiations go, but [he] looks to be a terrific athlete and I know he's a heck of a baseball player, too." More Kyler Murray Kyler Murray's future is in baseball, so what does that mean for this upcoming Sooners football season?
Oklahoma quarterback outlook for 2018: Is it finally Kyler Murray's time to shine?