A's Vs. Rangers Final Score: Oakland Wins 4-3

Colby Lewis did his job. Texas' bullpen let him down.

On Wednesday, Lewis pitched five strong innings in his return from the disabled list, yielding one run on three hits, while walking two and striking out three. After five and a half innings of play, the Rangers had a 3-1 lead over the Oakland Athletics.

The bullpen, though, let Lewis down.

Robbie Ross pitched a clean sixth, allowing a lead-off single to Yoenis Cespedes, but then retiring the next three batters. Ross was left in for the start of the seventh, but was removed after allowing a lead-off double to Brandon Inge.

Alexi Ogando came in to pitch the rest of the seventh, and after issuing a walk, Ogando surrendered a double to J.J. Reddick, which tied the game at three.

Michael Kirkman pitched the eighth and came back out to pitch the ninth, but faced just one batter in the ninth, as Brandon Hicks promptly ended the game with a walk-off home run off of Kirkman, giving Oakland a 4-3 win.

The home run was the first of Hicks' career at the major league level.

Nelson Cruz was the only member of the Rangers to record multiple hits on Wednesday, as Cruz went 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI single.

Ryan Cook pitched out of trouble in the ninth to pick up the win for Oakland. Cook allowed a lead-off double to Cruz, but was able to retire Mike Napoli on strikes immediately after. Oakland elected to intentionally walk David Murphy, and Cook then retired both Craig Gentry and Ian Kinsler to get out of the jam.

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Rangers Vs. Athletics: Wednesday Preview, TV Info And More

The Texas Rangers look for a mini-sweep as they take on the host Oakland Athletics Wednesday in the finale of their two-game series this afternoon.

The Rangers took game one of the series 6-1 behind Roy Oswalt's strongest start of the year. Oswalt gave up just three hits and one earned run in 6-1/3 innings of work.

Texas will send Colby Lewis (6-6, 3.51 ERA) to the mound, ready to make his first start since coming off the disabled list. Lewis went on the DL on June 26 due to tightness in his forearm after giving up eight earned runs in four innings of work against the Colorado Rockies.

The A's will counter with Travis Blackley (2-2, 3.20 ERA). Blackley has alternated between the bullpen and the starting rotation this year, but has some success against the Rangers this year. In his last start on July 1, Blackley got the win when he held the Rangers to just seven hits and one earned run in seven innings of work.

Take a look here at the game schedule and broadcast information for Tuesday:

Date/Time: Wednesday, July 18, 3:35 p.m. ET

TV: Fox Sports Southwest

Online streaming: MLB.tv

Read more on the Rangers at Lone Star Ball and SB Nation Dallas. Head over to Athletics Nation and SB Nation Bay Area for more on the As. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Rangers Defeat Athletics Behind Roy Oswalt's Strongest Outing Of Season

A short road trip to Oakland is proving fruitful so far for the Texas Rangers after last night's 6-1 win over the Athletics. Today's second game in a two-game series is set for the afternoon, so the Rangers are hoping to make quick work of the A's.

Roy Oswalt picked up his third victory of the season for the Rangers and turned in a great start, going just over 6 innings while allowing only 3 hits and 1 run with no walks and 6 strikeouts. Four relievers combined to keep the A's hitters scoreless for the rest of the outing.

As for the line-up, every hitter contributed except for Ian Kinsler at the top with at least one hit, including home runs from Adrian Beltre, his 17th, and Josh Hamilton, his 28th.

Bartolo Colon took the loss for Oakland.

Read more on the Rangers at Lone Star Ball and SB Nation Dallas. Head over toAthletics Nation and SB Nation Bay Area for more on the As. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Rangers Vs. Athletics: Roy Oswalt Tries To Help Texas Get Back On Track

The Texas Rangers are stumbling a little bit entering Tuesday's game against the Oakland Athletics, having gone 4-6 in their last 10 games. The A's however enter this game having won nine of their last 10 games with a four-game winning streak.

The Rangers will throw pitcher Roy Oswalt to the mound as he looks to throw another impressive game after going five and two-thirds against the Minnesota Twins on July 8. In that game, Oswalt pitched allowed only one run on five hits, striking out three and walking two.

In the batting lineup, there is only change from Sunday's game against the Seattle Mariners. Catcher Mike Napoli will catch for Oswalt rather than catcher Yorvit Torrealba. The only other change is that Josh Hamilton will play in left field rather than being the designated hitter and David Murphy will be the designated hitter.

The rest of the Rangers' lineup is as follows.

1. Ian Kinsler (R) 2B
2. Elvis Andrus (R) SS
3. Josh Hamilton (L) LF
4. Adrian Beltre (R) 3B
5. Michael Young (R) 1B
6. Nelson Cruz (R) RF
7. David Murphy (L) DH
8. Mike Napoli (R) C
9. Craig Gentry (R) CF

The game is scheduled for a 10:05 p.m. ET first pitch from Oakland Coliseum. Television coverage will be provided by Fox Sports Southwest with radio coverage provided by 103.3 ESPN FM.

Read more on the Rangers at Lone Star Ball and SB Nation Dallas. Head over to Athletics Nation and SB Nation Bay Area for more on the As. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Rangers Vs. Athletics: Tuesday Preview, TV Info And More

The Texas Rangers and Oakland As start up a two-game series on Tuesday.