Rangers Rally From Five Back, Beat A's 7-5
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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Robinson Chirinos and Rougned Odor both homered twice as the Texas Rangers rallied from a five-run deficit to defeat the Oakland Athletics 7-5 on Wednesday night.
Texas has homered 17 times in the first six games of a 10-game road trip.
The A's lost for the ninth time in 11 games.
Three of Chirinos' four homers on the season have come in the last two days. Chirinos hit a solo homer off A's reliever John Axford (3-2) in the top of the seventh inning that broke a 5-5 tie.
Texas trailed 5-0 in the sixth when Chirinos started a five-run rally with a leadoff homer off starter Sonny Gray. Odor's two-run homer off Gray tied the game. He added a solo shot -- his 12th -- in the eighth off Sean Doolittle.
Nick Martinez (1-1) pitched 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball in relief of Rangers starter Derek Holland, who allowed five runs (four earned), four hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings.
Sam Dyson pitched a scoreless ninth for his 11th save.
Jake Smolinski hit a two-run homer -- his third -- and Billy Burns had two hits for Oakland.
QUICK STUDY:
Jurickson Profar has impressed since taking over third base for Adrian Beltre, who's been out of the Texas lineup since straining a hamstring on June 8. Originally drafted as a shortstop, Profar hadn't played third since 2013, when he logged the only 10 games he had seen at the hot corner before this year. "His aptitude is at a high level," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "To be able to do that, the interest had to be there. There is a thirst for learning and a desire to be better than most."
TRAINER'S ROOM:
Rangers: 3B Beltre will likely return to the lineup on Thursday's series finale, Banister said. ... DH Prince Fielder is expected to play first base on Thursday.
A's: RHP Henderson Alvarez will make a rehab start for Triple-A Nashville on Saturday and could make his next start after that with Oakland, A's manager Bob Melvin said. Alvarez threw a 45-pitch bullpen session in Oakland on Wednesday. ... OF Josh Reddick, on the DL since May 20 with a fractured left thumb, is ahead of schedule and will take batting practice on Friday. If all goes well the next step would be a rehab assignment. ... RHP Zach Neal could start Saturday's game against the Angels in place of LHP Sean Manaea, who went on the DL on Tuesday with a strained left forearm. ... OF Coco Crisp is expected to be back in the starting lineup on Thursday after a second straight day off Wednesday. Melvin said he wanted to rest the veteran outfielder.
UP NEXT:
A's: RHP Daniel Mengden, acquired last season from the Astros in the Scott Kazmir trade, will make his second career start and his first for Oakland. Mengden took the loss in his major league debut in Cincinnati on Saturday, when he allowed two runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Mengden hadn't pitched above A-ball before this year.
Rangers: At 36, RHP Colby Lewis is 5-0 to start a season for the first time in his career. He leads the league in quality starts with 11 and has held opponents to a .202 batting average (39 for 193) over his last eight starts.
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