Athletics 1 - 4 Rangers
Final
  for this game

Williams pitches Rangers past A's

Jul 26, 2014 - 6:10 AM Arlington, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Jerome Williams threw six strong innings in his first game for the Texas Rangers, leading them to a 4-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday in the opener of a three-game series.

Williams (2-4) was signed by the Rangers on July 11 after being released by Houston a day earlier. The right-hander's contract was purchased from Triple-A Round Rock earlier Friday and he gave up one run and five hits while striking out four in his first start of the season after 26 relief appearances for the Astros.

Elvis Andrus had two hits and scored twice and Adrian Beltre added two hits, including an RBI single for the Rangers, who won for just the sixth time in their last 33 games.

The AL West-leading A's saw a two-game winning streak snapped. They had the tying run at the plate in the ninth inning but Neftali Feliz escaped the jam to earn his first save since 2011.

"He got it done," Rangers manager Ron Washington said about Feliz. "I'm more than certain the more he gets the ball, the easier it will probably come."

Feliz raced to cover first after Derek Norris' sharp grounder was deflected by first baseman J.P. Arencibia. Second baseman Rougned Odor caught the ball and tossed to first, where Feliz touched the bag a step ahead of Norris to end the game.

Jason Hammel (0-3) took the loss after giving up four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits and two walks in 5 2/3 innings. He has lost all three of his starts since coming over from the Cubs in the Jeff Samardzija deal earlier this month.

"The easiest thing to do here is start getting down on myself, but I'm not going to do that," said Hammel.

Jim Adduci hit a leadoff double in the second inning and scored on Arencibia's single and Andrus tripled in the third and came home on Alex Rios' hit to give the Rangers a 2-0 lead.

The A's cut that in half with a run in the sixth inning after singles by Eric Sogard and John Jaso were followed by Yoenis Cespedes' one-out RBI hit. John Jaso was throw out at third base by the left fielder Adduci on the play.

Cespedes' offline throw on Beltre's RBI single in the bottom of the sixth allowed Rios to move up to third and he scored on Adduci's sacrifice fly on the next pitch to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead.

Game Notes

Williams started 117 of 181 games he pitched between 2003-13 ... Oakland started a six-game road trip ... The A's acquired right-handed prospect Deck McGuire from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations and optioned him to Triple-A Sacramento.






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