When you think your team is going to lose before the pitch is thrown, well, you're either going to be right, or pleasantly surprised.

Curse you, AN, for being right.

Vin Mazzaro didn't have it from the outset, and seemed to be at his worse after his teammates gave him a run or two to work with, which happened to be all they gave him to work with.

With Daric Barton and Jack Cust sitting this one out, the A's offense was predictably stagnant, managing only a Rajai run in the first, and a pair of scores in the sixth following a bobbled double-play grounder that would have ended the inning. 

The latter runs allowed the A's to close within 4-3, but the Rangers answered with three of their own- thanks to home runs off the bats of David Murphy and Taylor Teagarden- to make it 7-3, and essentially put this one away.

Some might say they've done the same with the division.

Pessimists.

The A's put on a mini-tease in the ninth- scoring one run- before the ol' game-ending rundown put the finishing touches on a lost opportunity in the Lone Star State.