Texas Trounces Oakland; Magic Number Reduced to Two

On the bright side, if you took out the Rangers' 5-run seventh inning and their 3-run eighth, the A's would have won the game 3-2. Unfortunately, the A's would lose the game 10-3. And did you know that the A's now have the lowest homerun total in the league? Yes, even Seattle has hit more.

Vlad proved to be a continued nemesis no matter the color of his uniform; he went 3-4 with 4 RBI in the game, including a homerun that put the Rangers up 1-0 after the second. They increased their lead to 2-0 in the fourth.

The A's actually had a pretty good day on defense (minus the centerfielders; where IS Rajai Davis?) and Cramer pitched well for six innings (unfortunately, he started the seventh), but they fell apart late to lose the game. Cramer and the A's defense even had a 3-pitch inning; a single, a fielder's choice and a double-play made short work of the sixth inning. With all the momentum on their side, the A's came up to bat in the sixth, preparing to tie the game.

Ellis had a leadoff single and after Barton struck out, Suzuki singled Ellis to third. Cust struck out with the runner on third, but Carson singled to drive in the run. Carter struck out (he had a double earlier in the game) to end the inning. The A's were down by only one run, but the seventh was a disaster. The combination of Cramer and Bonser gave up five runs, and Wolf gave up three of his own in the eighth. The A's would get one run back in the seventh, but Suzuki and Cust would leave the bases loaded. Hermida would complete his 4-4 night with another run-scoring hit in the eighth to get the A's another run, but it was all too little too late.

The A's need to win the next two to keep the Rangers from celebrating on the field.

We do it again tomorrow.