A's Solve Darvish, Top Rangers 6-2
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – Yu Darvish was tagged for five runs, the Texas Rangers offense was limited to three hits and the AL West-leading Oakland Athletics defeated the Rangers 6-2 on Tuesday night.
A day after emerging from an offensive slump and a six-game losing streak, the Rangers were unable to solve A's starter Jarrod Parker (6-6).
The right-hander limited the Rangers to three hits in seven innings, a day after the team broke out with eight runs on 12 hits.
"He moved his fastball around well – good changeup," said manager Ron Washington following the game. "I thought he made some mistakes with some pitches, and we missed them"
Darvish, who was winless in his last four starts despite having a 2.08 ERA, surrendered five runs (4 ER) on six hits to earn the loss.
Darvish (7-3) struck out 10 hitters on the night, his 14th career game with 10+ strikeouts.
Oakland started the scoring in the second inning when Brandon Moss drove an 0-1 pitch to left field for his 13th homerun of the season. The A's built on the lead with an RBI-single by Eric Sogard.
John Jaso led off the third inning with his second homerun of the season, a solo shot to right field, providing what would be the winning run.
"In my mind, there were no mistake pitches," said Darvish through a translator. "I have conviction when I throw my pitches, so they just hit really good pitches."
The Rangers would respond in the third inning. Leonys Martin led off with a ground ball single up the middle under a diving Eric Sogard's glove. After an Ian Kinsler walk and Jurickson Profar sacrifice bunt, Pierzynski singled to center to bring two runs home.
Martin scored easily on the play, but Kinsler collided with the catcher Jaso, opening a cut on his left jaw that required three stitches.
Team doctors performed test for concussion-like symptoms, but Kinsler returned to the field after a brief delay to start the fourth inning.
In the fourth, Josh Donaldson scored from third on a wild pitch by Yu Darvish. A Lance Berkman error then allowed Seth Smith to score from third, pushing the lead to 5-2.
Donaldson added a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
The A's extended their lead in the AL West to three games. The team's face off on Wednesday as Tommy Milone and Justin Grimm take the mound.
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