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 The Athletics answered being swept last week by the AL West rival
Texas Rangers with a sweep of their own, and they did it in a more
impressive style.
Right-hander Jesse Chavez pitched seven shutout innings of one-hit
ball, and Oakland completed a three-game sweep by battering the
Rangers' beleaguered pitching staff in a 12-1 victory.
Chavez struck out eight hitters and walked one.
Second baseman Eric Sogard went 2-for-4 with a double and three
RBIs, and designated hitter Yoenis Cespedes had two doubles, two
RBIs and two runs for the Athletics (18-10).
Both were among seven hitters who had at least two hits in a 17-hit
attack for Oakland, which beat the Rangers by a combined 25-4 score
over three games.
"You never want to get swept at home," said Chavez of the first
meeting between the teams last week, during which Texas outscored
Oakland 12-7. "It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. We just came in
here with a little added fire."
Center fielder Coco Crisp's home run produced Oakland's 12th run.
Cather Derek Norris and first baseman/third baseman Alberto Callaspo
each went 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Oakland left 10 runners on base.
"They beat us soundly," Texas manager Ron Washington said.
First baseman Prince Fielder accounted for Texas' first and only hit
through the game's first seven innings, a first-inning single.
Chavez (2-0) retired 18 of his final 20 hitters, a streak
interrupted only by a fourth-inning walk of Fielder — who was
erased on a 1-4-3 double play — and an error on shortstop Nick
Punto in the fifth.
The 30-year-old journeyman struck out four of the last six hitters
he faced.
"We've seen that game from him a few times this year," Oakland
manager Bob Melvin said. "Quality stuff all the time, mechanics are
terrific. Great cutter today. He keeps you off-balance with all his
pitches."
Josh Wilson's double in the eighth off reliever Luke Gregerson
scored Leonys Martin, who extended a hitting streak to seven games
with a single, for Texas' only run.
Left-hander Robbie Ross (1-2) took the loss for Texas (15-13). He
became the third consecutive Rangers starter to work less than five
innings, giving up 10 runs (six earned) on 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings.
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Oakland didn't need much help in dropping 10 runs on the Rangers in
the third and fourth innings combined, but the Athletics got some
anyway. The Athletics sent 11 hitters to the plate in the third and
scored seven times. Four of the runs were unearned after shortstop
Elvis Andrus allowed Callaspo's ground ball to go through his legs
on a potential inning-ending double play.
Oakland already had three on the scoreboard — two on the first of
Cespedes' two-run doubles — but followed with four more by way of
shortstop Nick Punto's RBI groundout and Sogard's two-run single.
"He always makes plays," Ross said of Andrus' misplay. "It just goes
that way sometimes. Sometimes plays aren't made, but that's
baseball."
Oakland sent nine more hitters to the plate in a three-run fourth
inning. Norris drove in his fourth run in two days with a single,
and Sogard registered his third RBI of the game with a single. The
Rangers committed two more errors in the inning.
Ross left after 83 pitches.
"This is just one of those games you have to forget about and move
on," Ross said. "There's a lot of baseball left. We're just looking
forward to the next one."
NOTES: Rangers LHP Robbie Ross walked RF Josh Reddick in the third
inning, the first base on balls Ross allowed in 21 1/3 innings (more
than three starts and 99 batters). ... The Athletics have 208
victories since 2012, the most in the majors. Texas has 199 wins in
that span, tied for third. ... Oakland has an AL-best 12-4 record on
the road this season.
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