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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