Field Level Media
Sep 14, 2019
Khris Davis hit two home runs and drove in four runs, Ramon Laureano homered and had four RBIs, and Matt Olson and Marcus Semien also homered as the Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to four games with a 14-9 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night in Arlington, Texas.
Sean Murphy doubled three times and scored four runs and Sheldon Neuse went 4-for-5 with three RBIs for Oakland (88-60), which maintained its half-game lead for the first wild-card spot in the American League over the Tampa Bay. The Rays beat the Angels 11-4 later Friday night.
J.B. Wendelken (2-1) picked up the win with three perfect innings of relief.
Shin-Soo Choo and Danny Santana hit three-run home runs, and Elvis Andrus had a two-run single for Texas (74-75). Ian Gibaut (1-1) took the loss, giving up three runs on two hits and a walk with two strikeouts in one inning of relief.
Olson gave Oakland a 1-0 lead in the first inning with his 33rd home run. In the second, Davis made it 2-0 in the second with a 432-foot homer to center and Neuse increased the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single.
Texas rebounded to take a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the second on Ronald Guzman's RBI double and Choo's 22nd homer, a three-run blast to right.
The A's regained the lead 6-4 in the top of the third on a three-run homer by Davis, his 22nd of the season and the 26th multi-homer game of his career. It was also the 19th home run hit at Globe Life Park by Davis, tying David Ortiz, Carlos Delgado and Tino Martinez for second most in stadium history by a visiting player, one behind Jason Giambi.
The Rangers took a 7-6 lead in the bottom of third on Santana's 25th home run of the season, a three-run shot to right.
Oakland tied it 7-7 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Laureano, who then put the A's ahead to stay in the sixth with his 22nd homer, a three-run shot off Gibaut.
The A's blew the game open with four runs in the ninth, highlighted by a two-run single by Neuse and a two-run homer by Semien, his 29th. Andrus ended the scoring with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth.
--Field Level Media