ARLINGTON, Texas — Oakland Athletics rookie right-hander Luis Medina had a rough start to Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers, and the ending was not much better.
Medina allowed three runs in the first inning and two more in the fifth in what became a 9-4 A’s loss to the Rangers at Globe Life Field, as Texas won consecutive games for the first time in September.
Former Athletic Marcus Semien homered twice among his four hits, and Corey Seager went deep for the 30th time this season.
Andrew Heaney (10-6), the odd man out of the Rangers rotation with All-Star right-hander Nathan Eovaldi back from the injured list, struck out six over 3 2/3 scoreless innings after taking over for Jon Gray in the third. It was the first relief appearance for the left-hander after 27 starts this season.
Semien matched his career high with four hits for the second time in four games. He set a franchise record with his eighth leadoff homer this season, part of a terrible first inning off Medina (3-9). Semien hit another solo shot in the sixth and Seager homered on the next pitch to cap a four-run outburst that inning.
Medina is now winless in his last six starts, with his last victory coming on July 18 against the Boston Red Sox. Sunday, he allowed six hits, five earned runs, and three walks in 4 1/3 innings.
“He comes out in the first, gives up three runs,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay told reporters when asked about Medina. “He bounced back and did a nice job in the second, third, fourth, and then that fifth thing — that third time through the lineup — they’re coming around, a couple of walks, and then it ends up getting out of control a little bit for him.
“That’s the maturity, that’s kind of the experience that we need to get him built up and get him through that, and he’s got to go through it at times. It’s unfortunate today that he just hit the wall in the fifth again.”
Semien, the only Rangers player to start all 142 games, leads the AL with 166 hits and 109 runs scored. He has 24 homers and 87 RBIs.
With 20 games remaining, the Rangers (78-64) stayed three games behind AL West-leading Houston (82-62), which swept them in three games in their previous series. They moved within .003 of division foe Seattle (79-64) for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot after the Mariners lost at Tampa Bay, and are 1 1/2 games behind Toronto (80-63) for the second spot.
The Rangers, who won for only the sixth time in their last 22 games, had a 3 1/2-game division lead before that slide. They open a four-game road series against the Blue Jays on Monday.
“Each game is its individual game. We want to focus on that no matter who we’re playing,” Semien said. “Standings are the standings. But if we focus on the task at hand and see where we’re at at the end, I think that’s a better plan.”
Tyler Soderstrom, one of six rookies in the A’s batting order, homered leading off the third inning. Gray was gone after giving up consecutive two-out walks and then back-to-back RBI singles by Seth Brown and Jordan Diaz that tied the game at 3. The go-ahead run scored on third baseman Josh Smith’s fielding error.
Nathaniel Lowe put the Rangers ahead to stay with his two-out single in the fifth. An inning later, before Semien and Seager went back-to-back, Smith had an RBI triple and scored on rookie Evan Carter’s sacrifice fly for his first career RBI.
After Lowe was hit by a pitch in the first, Mitch Garver doubled into the left-field corner and Robbie Grossman drove them both home with a ground-rule double that bounced over the center-field wall for a 3-0 lead.
FOR STARTERS
Gray allowed four runs (three earned) with three strikeouts and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. Medina, in his second start since coming off the injured list because of a blister on his index finger, gave up five runs in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: SS Kevin Smith remained in the game after getting hit by a pitch on his left hand in the third inning.
UP NEXT
Athletics: Open a three-game series Monday at AL West-leading Houston.
Rangers: After a 3-6 homestand, Texas plays 14 of its last 20 games on the road. Dane Dunning (9-6, 3.88 ERA) starts the series opener in Toronto.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Source: www.mercurynews.com