Rangers Squander Shot at Oakland Sweep

Five errors helps erase early lead as Texas fails in its bid to get to .500 for the first time since 2019.

Matthew Postins | May 29, 2022

The Oakland Athletics ended the Texas Rangers’ chance for a four-game sweep as Jed Lowrie drilled a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 win Sunday.

The Rangers (22-24) were attempting to get to .500 for the first time this season and for the first time since being 74-74 on Sept. 12, 2019. The Rangers were also trying to claim a four-game sweep for the first time since 2019 and win five straight road games for the first time since 2018.

Texas made a season-high five errors in the loss, leading to two unearned Oakland runs.

“Pretty sloppy," Rangers manager Chris Woodward told Bally Sports Southwest after the game. "I don’t want to get into all the details but there were a lot of little things we didn’t do well — base running, lack of execution, lack of good intent in the batter’s box. Our guys were tired. We played a lot of games.”

With Brett Martin (0-4) on the hill for Texas in a 5-5 game, he allowed a leadoff single to Cristian Pache in the ninth. After Tony Kemp bunted out to Rangers third baseman Andy Ibáñez, Ramón Laureano moved Pache to second with a groundout to Martin.

Corey Seager

Corey Seager

Brad Miller

Lowrie was down to his last strike when he laced a single to left field. Rangers outfielder Charlie Culberson had to pivot quickly to make a throw home, which was had no shot of getting Pache.

The Rangers built a 4-0 lead, lost it in the bottom of the eighth and then tied the game in the top of the ninth as Marcus Semien drew a one-out walk from A's reliever Dany Jimenez (2-2) and then stole second. After Jimenez got Corey Seager to ground out, Semien advanced to third. Jimenez then threw a 1-1 pitch in the dirt to Adolis García, which got past catcher Sean Murphy and allowed Semien to score.

The Athletics (20-30) avoided being swept by the Rangers in a four-game set in Oakland for the first time since 1977.

Texas' early lead seemed to be carryover from Saturday’s explosion. Seager hit a solo home run in the first inning, which made him the first Ranger and the first Major League shortstop to hit 10 home runs this season. It was also Seager’s second straight game with a homer.

In the third, Brad Miller hit his own solo shot to put the Rangers up 2-0.

In the top of the fifth, the Rangers added two more. Nathaniel Lowe led off with a single, followed by an Ibáñez double. Miller singled Lowe home and moved Ibáñez to third. After Eli White struck out, Semien — who hit his first home of the season on Saturday — singled to right, driving in Ibáñez. That led the Athletics to pull starting pitcher James Kaprielian.

Sam Selman retired the final two Rangers in the fifth. Kaprielian left the game in line for the loss, having given up six hits and four runs in 4 1/3 innings with two strikeouts.

Miller — who had two hits for the Rangers — left with hip tightness in the fifth inning and was replaced by Culberson.

The Athletics chased Rangers starter Dane Dunning in the fifth. He hadn’t allowed a run to that point, which has been a trend for Dunning, who went into the game with a 1.86 earned run average in three outings against Oakland.

Lowrie had a leadoff single. After Seth Brown struck out, Murphy doubled to left and scored Lowrie. Then Dunning walked Luis Barrera, which led to Rangers manager Chris Woodward pulling Dunning for reliever Dennis Santana.

That didn’t slow the A's down. Former Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus doubled to left, which scored Murphy and moved Barrera to third. Then Kevin Smith grounded back to Santana, who threw out Barrera at home for the second out. But Andrus was now at third.

Pache hit a grounder to Ibáñez at third that could have ended the inning. But Ibáñez couldn’t handle it and was charged for an error. That allowed Andrus to score to cut the Rangers’ lead to 4-3. Santana then got Kemp to fly out to end the inning.

Dunning was charged for all three runs in the fifth, though only two were earned. His 4 1/3 innings was his shortest outing in May, as he gave up seven hits and three walks while striking out five.

Dane Dunning

Adolis Garcia — Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports

Adolis García

Kole Calhoun

The Rangers nearly scored in the top of the seventh as White hit a slow roller to Athletics first baseman Seth Brown, who threw home to Murphy and he tagged out Ibáñez. The Rangers challenged the call, saying that Murphy blocked Ibáñez’s path to the plate, but the call was upheld.

The A's took the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Oakland tied the game as pinch-hitter Chad Pinder singled to the gap in left-center field to bring home Kemp. The Rangers then intentionally walked Murphy to load the bases with one out.

Rangers reliever John King got Sheldon Neuse to ground to Semien, but his throw to Heim for the force out was in the dirt and Heim couldn’t field it, which allowed Laureano to score and give the A's the lead.

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Published May 29, 2022

MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers for Fan Nation/SI and also writes about the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.