Cespedes Homers In A's 4-2 Win
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Yoenis Cespedes provided the power and Eric Sogard gave Oakland a little bit of punch. It was a winning formula.
Cespedes hit a two-run home run to help the Athletics end the Texas Rangers' five-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Saturday.
Sogard drove in an insurance run with a safety squeeze that had Matt Garza steaming for a bit. Jed Lowrie also drove in a run for the A's, who ended a three-game losing streak. Brandon Moss and Coco Crisp each added two hits.
Garza hollered at Sogard after the play in the seventh inning gave the A's a cushion.
"I asked him if there were any good places to eat in Oakland," Garza joked afterward.
Sogard said he couldn't make out what Garza was saying.
"We scored a run though," he said, "so he's not going to be happy."
Garza (1-1 in the AL, 7-2 overall) lost for the first time since June 11 and the Rangers lost ground on the AL West Division leading A's for the first time in nearly a week, falling 3 1-2 games back.
Jarrod Parker (7-6) gave up two runs on six hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out six. He ended a streak of six straight no decisions and is 5-0 over his last 12 starts.
"After the leadoff double I just wanted to minimize the damage," Parker said. "To put a zero was huge."
Ian Kinsler homered and Adrian Beltre also drove in a run for Texas.
Garza gave up four runs on eight hits over eight innings. He walked one and struck out five.
"They had a big first inning and it's always tough when you start in a hole," Garza said. "I thought I made a good pitch but Cespedes is a strong guy and the wind was aiding it because it stayed up there a long time."
Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour each pitched an inning, with Balfour picking up his 29th save in 30 chances.
Four of the first five A's batters hit safely against Garza, with Lowrie driving in one run and Cespedes following with a two-run home run. Moss also singled before Garza got the final two outs.
"Sometimes you want to score before a starting pitcher gets comfortable," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "You try to get something off a good pitcher early to create a little havoc, and later to score a run."
Garza, who pitched in Oakland on July 3 with the Chicago Cubs, allowed runs in the first inning for the first time since last July 5 in Atlanta, when he gave up four.
"They showed how they were going to attack me," Garza said. "I didn't really do my job but I got deep into the game and gave the bullpen some rest."
Garza, who earned the Rangers second complete game of the season, retired 12 of the next 13 hitters he faced.
"He was good," Rangers' manager Ron Washington said. "He gave up three runs and gave us a complete game."
Beltre singled home a run in the third and Kinsler hit a one-out home run in the fifth to bring the Rangers within 3-2.
Parker allowed more than five hits in a start for the first time since May 22, when he allowed six hits to the Rangers in Texas, a span of 12 starts.
Moss doubled in the sixth when Texas centerfielder Leonys Martin lost a ball in the sun. It bounced behind him and then over the fence.
Sogard, who became the first A's player with two sacrifice bunts in the same game in over three years, delivered a safety squeeze to easily score Alberto Callapso, in the seventh.
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