Rangers pound four home runs
hot and cold streaks,” A’s designated hitter Mitch Moreland said. “I think consistency could be a little bit better. But at the same time this group has been really good all year. We can come out tomorrow and be right back on track. That’s just the way we do it, the way we play the game. Not worried about it at all. I think everybody will come ready to play tomorrow and forget about this one.”
Texas is buoyed by one of baseball’s hottest hitters right now. Joey Gallo totaled four home runs and six RBIs in three games in Oakland. A’s starter Sean Manaea was coming off a strong June, posting a 1.13 ERA in five starts, and entered Thursday holding lefthanded hitters to a .451 OPS this season. Gallo, the lefthanded slugger, spurred Texas’ offense against him.
Adolis Garcia doubled with two outs in the first inning. On a 11 pitch to Gallo, Garcia stole third base. The pitch appeared a strike but was called a ball as catcher Aramis Garcia came up to throw. Two pitches later, Gallo lined a 22 fastball for an RBI single that left his bat at 110.8 mph.
Gallo struck a 108.9 mph single in the third. In the fifth, he came up with a runner on first and one out. Manaea tried a firstpitch fastball. Gallo hit it 412 feet to right field for a tworun homer. Nate Lowe, another lefthanded hitter, added a solo shot against Manaea in the fourth. Manaea left after the fifth, having allowed more than two runs in a start for the first time since May 18.
“The slider to Lowe wasn’t a competitive pitch at all, he just recognized it out of my hand and hit a bomb, then Joey’s just a really good hitter,” said Manaea, against whom Gallo was 1for13 before Thursday. “Overall, everything felt good coming out of my hand. I’d say just pitch location, wasn’t really making competitive pitches.”
Lowe also hit a tworun homer off Deolis Guerra in the seventh. Guerra had held lefthanders to a 3for43 mark this year. The A’s were outhit 155. Their lineup has struggled without a key piece. Since leadoff hitter Mark Canha landed on the injured list, the A’s have 21 runs in six games.
The early innings were filled with frustration for Oakland. The A’s were 0for8 with men in scoring position after four innings and finished 1for14. They loaded the bases with one out in the second and did not score. Rangers righthander Dane Dunning faced a twoon, noout jam in the third and allowed a leadoff double by Moreland in the fourth; he escaped both innings unscathed.
“That affects things early on, would have been a little bit of a different game,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “We got behind toward the end a little. Sean was off his game some. He battled as long as he could, he gave up some hits, just didn’t have his best command.”
The A’s were scoreless until the eighth. John King, in his fourth inning of relief, hit Tony Kemp, walked Matt Chapman and threw Frank Schwindel’s potential doubleplay grounder into center. Chad Pinder added an RBI double and Schwindel scored on a groundout.
The A’s were outhit in three games 3117. They lost a series at home to the Rangers for the first time since 2016.
“We haven’t played our best here for ... 10 days or so,” Melvin said. “But give them credit. They’re swinging the bats well against us and doing enough on the pitching end as well.”