Oakland, CA (Sports Network) – Mitch Moreland hit a three-run and two-run home run as Texas pounded Oakland, 16-9, in the finale of a four-game set.
Jeff Francoeur added a solo home run and four RBI while David Murphy hit a two-run home run and drove in four for the Rangers, who took the final three games of the set, including Saturday’s contest which helped them clinch the AL West for Texas’ first division championship since 1999.
Colby Lewis (12-13) got the win as he gave up just one run on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts over six innings of work.
Steven Tolleson hit a three-run home run while Matt Carson added a solo shot for the Athletics, who have dropped four of their last five.
Trevor Cahill (17-8) was tagged for seven runs on 12 hits with a walk and three strikeouts over just four innings of action.
Trailing by eight runs to start the eighth, Oakland rallied to get back into the contest. With the bases loaded, Gabe Gross punched a two-run single and that was followed by a three-run blast from Tolleson, his first career home run. An RBI single later in the frame from Josh Donaldson made it a 9-7 game.
Texas, though, answered with a seven-run ninth. An RBI single from Esteban German was followed by a run-scoring walk from Murphy. Francoeur then hit a two-run single and Moreland capped the burst with a three-run home run for a 16-7 lead.
Carson’s solo homer and Rajai Davis’ RBI single in the ninth accounted for the final score.
Francoeur’s RBI single in the first got Texas on the board, and the team plated two more runs in the second on an RBI fielder’s choice from Julio Borbon and a run-scoring single from Murphy for a 3-0 lead.
Moreland hit a two-run shot in the third and Borbon later hit an RBI single to extend Texas’ lead to 6-0.
Francoeur led off the fourth with a shot over the wall in left to make it a 7-0 game.
In the fifth, Oakland got one back as Davis’ RBI single plated Gross, but Murphy countered that with a two-run home run in the sixth for a 9-1 lead.
Game Notes
Texas, which finished the road portion of its season with a mark of 39-42, opens a three-game set at home on Monday versus Seattle…Oakland, which went 47-34 at home this season, starts a three-game series in Los Angeles on Monday…The Rangers edged the Athletics in the season series, 10-9…Texas stranded 12 men while Oakland left 11 on base…Cahill had won six straight starts at home coming into the game and fell to 6-2 over nine career starts against the Rangers…Lewis improved to 3-3 over 12 games against the A’s.