Rangers falter all around in three-game sweep by A’s

If it wasn’t the starting pitching, it was the offense.

If it wasn’t the offense, it was the starting pitching or the bullpen.

The Texas Rangers experienced some form of a letdown from some facet of their team over three lousy games in the East Bay. On Wednesday, needing a victory to avoid a three-game sweep, all three faltered.

Oakland jumped Martin Perez for three first-inning runs and scored four more against three relievers in the eighth inning, while Rich Hill and two relievers held the Rangers to only four hits in an 8-1 victory.

The Rangers were headed to Houston to spend their off day Thursday ahead of a three-game weekend series against the Astros. While the rest might get their heads right, the Rangers need to find a way to be more consistent in all facets.

They haven’t done that so far this season.

“As a team, we haven’t clicked yet and been the team we should be,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “It’s just being able to be more consistent.”

Perez’s 31-pitch first inning put the Rangers in a hole they couldn’t escape. The left-hander said he struggled to find his rhythm in an inning in which he gave up three singles and two walks.

He allowed only one run on five hits the rest of the way, with the run coming on another homer by Khris Davis, and needed only 67 pitches over his final six innings. But the damage had been done.

“The story really is the first inning,” manager Jeff Banister said. “Give up the three against a guy like Rich Hill, multiple breaking balls and showed some moxie with the different arm angles to keep our guys off balance. It presented a challenge when you’re down three runs.”

The offense was held to one run for the second time in the series and managed only seven over three games. Five of those came in the 8-5 walk-off loss Tuesday, and the bullpen allowed eight runs in its final two innings in the series.

Andrew Faulkner and Luke Jackson were the culprits Wednesday, and Alex Claudio allowed two inherited runners to score. One of that trio is likely headed to Triple A Round Rock to make room for Shin-Soo Choo as he comes off the disabled list Friday.

Choo is expected to give the offense a boost. Aside from Ian Desmond (2 for 4) and Prince Fielder (1 for 3, RBI), the Rangers could use a jumpstart. While Elvis Andrus had the other hit, an infield single, Desmond and Fielder were the only two hitters who found outfield grass.

“This is the big leagues, and it’s never easy,” Desmond said. “We’ve got to do a better job of putting runs on the board.”

The rotation was probably the Rangers’ strength during the sweep, posting two quality starts and seeing all three pitchers get through six innings. If a big inning wasn’t doing them in, the long ball was.

Oakland swatted eight homers in the series, to only two by the Rangers. The one Perez allowed in the sixth inning to Davis, who hit three Tuesday including the walk-off grand slam, was his lone blemish from the second to the seventh inning.

Perez hasn’t allowed more than five runs in a start this season, but within many of his nine outings he has been hurt by a long inning, a tough trait for a pitcher who gets the worst run support on the team. Perez, though, believes he struck on something that he can carry into his next start.

“I just need to try to be consistent in every inning,” Perez said. “I just want to do my job.”

“I love the fact that we have different guys every night that contribute,” Banister said. “But over the long haul you need the consistency of the core group. I don’t think we’ve hit any real rhythm yet. We’re still trying to find that rhythm.”

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:35 PM with the headline "Rangers falter all around in three-game sweep by A’s."