Texas Rangers fall 5-4 to the Oakland Athletics after a four-run first inning
Jordan Diaz hit a go-ahead home run off Rangers reliever Will Smith in the Rangers’ 5-4 loss against the Oakland Athletics.
The Rangers bullpen has been stellar throughout the season with the third-best ERA in the majors. The bullpen put up a solid showing against the Athletics, giving up one run in 3.2 innings.
For the Rangers, it’s only the second loss attributed to a bullpen pitcher this season.
Heim homers
The Rangers have been one of the hottest-hitting teams in the Majors this season, and Jonah Heim has been among their best hitters with a .313 batting average.
Heim headlined a four-run first inning with a three-run home run, his second in as many games, that made the Rangers seem poised for a big day behind the plate.
“Big home run, he gave us that big cushion there in the first inning, a nice job of hitting,” said Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy.
Bats cool off
But after the Rangers’ big first inning, the bats cooled down considerably. The team didn’t score a run for the rest of the game.
Athletics’ pitcher JP Sears recovered and began to dominate after a rough first inning noting a career-high with 11 strikeouts.
“We just couldn’t get much going off him, give him credit. He’s probably a batter away from leaving that ball game and ended up pitching a good game for them,” said Bochy.
Winning streak snapped
The Rangers were riding a season-best four-game winning streak coming into Friday’s game.
The Athletics only had three wins on the year coming into the series, but won the series opener to send the Rangers to a 12-7 record.
The Rangers will play the Athletics at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday at Globe Life Field.
