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Thursday, Jun. 29 3:35pm ET
A's lose grip on first in AL West | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A short visit to the bullpen did wonders for Esteban Loaiza. Loaiza, whose previous start was skipped because the schedule allowed the Rangers to use a four-man rotation, gave up one run in 7 1/3 innings as Texas defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-1 on Thursday. The Rangers became the first team to win a series from the A's since mid-May, and the loss dropped Oakland a half-game behind Seattle -- a 7-2 winner over Anaheim -- in the AL West. Texas remains last in the division. Loaiza (5-5), who earned his first major league save on Sunday in his 155th career game, gave up his only run when Jason Giambi hit a solo homer in the eighth. It was Giambi's 22nd homer of the season. Mike Venafro and Jeff Zimmerman got the last two outs in the eighth, and John Wetteland pitched the ninth for his 20th save. Loaiza worked out of his toughest jam in the sixth when Giambi, Ben Grieve and Matt Stairs opened the inning with singles to load the bases. But John Jaha flied to right, and Dave Martinez's one-hop throw to the plate easily beat Giambi for a double play. Loaiza then got Eric Chavez to fly to right and end the inning. "I was just trying to get a ground ball and get out of the inning, but I got the flyball for the double play," Loaiza said. A's manager Art Howe said Oakland was trying to be aggressive. "It took the perfect throw, and he made it," Howe said. "We expect to find ways to win all the time, so we're disappointed when it doesn't happen." Rusty Greer hit a two-run homer in the first for the Rangers, who defeated the A's 5-3 on Wednesday night and took two of three games in the series. Rafael Palmeiro added an RBI double in the third. It was the first time since May 19-20 the A's lost consecutive games. Oakland won its previous eight series. "Every win for us from here on in is big, in that we're in last place and we've got three teams to overcome," Greer said. "Two wins here is a good start." Gil Heredia (9-6) lost his second consecutive start, allowing three runs on nine hits while pitching his first complete game of the season and the third of his career. Heredia has struggled at home this season, going 2-5 at the Oakland Coliseum and 7-1 on the road. Heredia, who lasted only 5 1/3 innings in his previous start, did not allow a run after the third inning. "I pitched nine innings and it was nice to do that after my last outing. I had no idea I'd go nine after the first inning," Heredia said. "I was hoping it was one of those days I could hold them and we'd come back and score runs." Game notesTerrence Long's third-inning single extended his hitting streak to 17 games, tying Oakland's rookie record set by Mike Edwards in 1978 and matched by Luis Polonia in 1987. ... Greer, who had his club-record streak of nine straight multihit games snapped Wednesday night, went 2-for-4. ... After allowing seven home runs in his first 14 starts, Heredia has allowed a homer in each of his last two starts. ... The Rangers failed to get at least 10 hits for the first time in five games. They had nine hits Thursday. ... The A's went 6-3 on a homestand that ended Thursday. ... Grieve went 3-for-4, and leads Oakland with 10 games of three or more hits this season. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Texas Clubhouse Oakland Clubhouse RECAPS Toronto 12 Tampa Bay 3
Texas 3
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