After splitting the first two games of their four-game series against the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers fell to Jarrod Parker and the A's 9-3 on Wednesday night.
21-year-old Martin Perez started the game for Texas, but the young southpaw was unable to escape the first inning. Perez allowed five runs on six hits before being pulled by manager Ron Washington.
Opposing Perez was the rookie Parker. Like Perez, Parker found himself in trouble early in the game, but the 23-year-old was able to escape before the Rangers were able to hit themselves back into the game. The righty allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work while whiffing eight Rangers on the night.
With the Rangers down early, manager Ron Washington took advantage of his expanded bullpen by saving his top relievers and instead using several young relievers to patch up the remainder of the game.
Texas will now be looking to split their four-game series against Oakland on Thursday, which would also help the team extend its division lead to four games.