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 The A's owned a 1-0 lead entering the top of the ninth, and
Doolittle got the first out, but he gave up a single to shortstop
Elvis Andrus, a run-scoring double to second baseman Rougned Odor
and a three-run home run to designated hitter J.P. Arencibia in a
nightmare outing.
The Rangers scored six times in the ninth, sending 12 batters to the
plate. When the game ended, the A's (83-68) were tied with Kansas
City for the first wild-card spot in the American League West, just
two games ahead of Seattle. The A's led the AL West for much of the
season, but the Los Angeles Angels captured the West title when
Oakland fell to Texas.
"For me, and maybe even the team, it's going to be a turning point
one way or another," Doolittle said. "After the season's over, are
we going to look back and point at tonight and be like, this is the
game where the wheels came off for good? Or are we going to be able
to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and talk about how
resilient we are as a team and how we were able to overcome a game
like this and still get it done?
"I think the mentality of this team, the group we have, the fight
that we have, we have a game tomorrow and we're going to come ready
to play."
The Rangers (59-92) won their fifth consecutive game, matching their
season high, and beat the A's for the second straight time,
clinching the three-game series that concludes Thursday afternoon.
Texas opens a three-game series Friday against the Angels.
"It's beautiful. I love it," Rangers interim manager Tim Bogar said
of the streak. "I love it. I'm happy that I don't have to see
champagne this weekend. Luckily we played well these last two days.
We've pitched well for five straight days."
Odor launched an opposite-field double off the left-center field
wall, driving in Andrus with the tying run. He took third on the
play. A's manager Bob Melvin challenged the safe call, but it stood
after a review of three minutes and eight seconds.
After Doolittle intentionally walked third baseman Adrian Beltre,
Arencibia ripped a 1-2 pitch over the left field fence, making it
4-1. It was Arencibia's 10th home run of the season, and he hit it
after striking out his first three times up.
"When I got up there and I was 0-2, I was like, "Let's go, you got
to get this guy in,'" Arencibia said. "I was looking for the ball
down because he strikes a lot of guys out with fastballs up."
Doolittle (1-4) gave up five runs and three hits in one-third of an
inning, blowing a save for the fourth time in 25 chances this
season. Right-hander Jesse Chavez allowed a run on two hits in
one-third of an inning.
A's right-hander Jeff Samardzija pitched eight shutout innings,
allowing just four hits, before giving way to Doolittle in the
ninth. Samardzija struck out 10, matching his season high, and
didn't walk a batter. He extended his streak of scoreless innings to
a career-high 16 innings. Samardzija recorded the 10th double-digit
strikeout game of his career and his third this year but got a
no-decision.
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Samardzija threw 116 pitches, and Melvin said he didn't consider
having him pitch the ninth.
"You got to take the positive out of it," Samardzija said. "You got
to look at where we are as a team. If you take a step back and look
at it as a whole, 5 1/2 months and where we're at, we're still where
we need to be. We're a bunch of fighters and we're going to continue
to do that."
Rangers left-hander Derek Holland, making just his fourth start,
allowed one run and four hits over 6 1/3 innings and got a
no-decision. Holland struck out five and issued his first three
walks of the season.
After Holland left the game, four Rangers relievers combined to
blank the A's for the remainder. Left-hander Robbie Ross Jr. (3-7)
pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, holding the A's hitless and earning
the victory.
Oakland scored the game's first run on right fielder Sam Fuld's RBI
single in the fifth inning.
"I know they continue to work," Melvin said of his struggling
hitters. "You look at our numbers and you would say, 'How could this
happen for this long a period of time, based on what we'd done the
first half?' You just have to keep working and hope something breaks
loose and we can do some good things."
NOTES: Oakland OF Craig Gentry said he is still feeling symptoms
from a concussion he sustained during a collision while running to
first base Sept. 9. ... Oakland LHP Drew Pomeranz, as expected, will
make a spot start Saturday against Philadelphia. He will replace RHP
Jason Hammel, who will miss his scheduled start to be with his wife
for the birth of their second child. Pomeranz is 5-4 with a 2.53 ERA
in 19 games, including nine starts. ... Texas OF Shin-Soo Choo
underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove torn cartilage and a small
bone spur from his left ankle. He should be able to begin a running
program in six to eight weeks. ... RHP Lisalverto Bonilla will make
his second career start Friday night when the Rangers open a
three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
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reserved.]
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