Rangers limp home after 3-6 road trip ends with dud in Oakland
The Rangers’ first road trip of 2017 finished with a dud in Oakland. The A’s scored four times in the first and kept adding on for a 9-1 win. Manager Jeff Banister was ejected in the third inning after a ground ball over third base was ruled a foul ball. Third baseman fielded it and threw to first for the out but the umpiring crew ruled it was foul.
The Rangers went 3-6 on the trip and return home for a 10-game set at Globe Life Park beginning Thursday against the Kansas City Royals. After taking two of three against the Angels, the Rangers were swept in Seattle and lost two of three to the Athletics.
How Rangers pitchers fared: The A’s scored four times in the first against Martin Perez. Rajai Davis’ lead-off bloop double down the first-base line started things off but Perez had two outs with Davis at third base when Ryon Healy singled him home. Josh Phegley double in two runs and Yonder Alonso doubled in Phegley before Perez got out of the inning. He settled down enough to pitch into the fourth despite throwing 83 pitches in 3 2/3 innings. Mike Hauschild took over for the final out in the fourth after Chad Pinder’s double and a hard line out to first by Jaff Decker. In the fifth, Khris Davis’ two-run homer pushed the A’s lead to 6-1. Oakland scored two more in the sixth, including Pinder’s solo homer. Hauschild surrendered his third homer of the day to Alonso with two outs in the seventh, which made it 9-1.
How Rangers hitters fared: A’s starter Jesse Hahn kept the Rangers’ offense at bay for much of the day. Joey Gallo led off with a 437-foot homer to center field in the fifth to pull the Rangers to within 4-1. It was just their second hit of the day.
Notables: Hauschild has allowed a homer in each of his last three appearances and five in eight innings ... Banister was ejected for the first time in ’17. It’s the eighth time as Rangers’ manager. He was ejected twice in ’16 and five times in ’15 ... Delino DeShields, who entered the game in eighth, singled to right field in the ninth for his first hit of the season.
Stefan Stevenson: 817-390-7760, @StevensonFWST
This story was originally published April 19, 2017 at 5:25 PM with the headline "Rangers limp home after 3-6 road trip ends with dud in Oakland."