Rangers 7 - 2 Athletics
Final
  for this game

Oakland vies to bounce back in finale with Texas

Sep 18, 2014 - 2:31 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - The Oakland Athletics' recent struggles cost them a third straight American League West title. If they don't right the ship soon they could miss the postseason altogether.

Oakland tries to stay in the playoff hunt on Thursday, as it attempts to salvage the finale of a three-game series with the woeful Texas Rangers at O.co Coliseum.

Oakland seemed well on its way to winning on Wednesday, but the Rangers scored six times in the ninth inning to beat the Athletics, 6-1.

"The guys never gave up," Rangers interim manager Tim Bogar said.

Sean Doolittle (1-4), who had not allowed a run in his previous 15 games, was charged with five runs. He had taken over from starter Jeff Samardzija, who struck out 10 over eight scoreless innings.

It marked the fourth time in 10 games that the Athletics surrendered the go- ahead run in the opponent's final inning. It also allowed the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to capture the AL West crown.

Oakland's 11-24 record since Aug. 10 is tied with Arizona for the majors' worst in that span. Still, the A's are tied with Kansas City atop the wild card standings, two games in front of the Seattle Mariners.

"It's going to be a turning point one way or another," Doolittle said. "After the season's over, are we going to look back and point to tonight and be like, 'This is the game where finally the wheels came off for good,' or are we going to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and talk about how resilient we are as a team and how we were able to overcome a game like this and still get it done?"

Texas, meanwhile, has now won five in a row.

Oakland will try to reverse its recent fortunes behind righty Sonny Gray, who has just one win over his last nine starts. Gray did not get a decision on Friday in Seattle despite a decent effort that saw him allow two runs and five hits in eight innings of a 3-2 win.

Gray, who is 13-8 on the year with a 3.18 ERA, is 3-1 in four starts versus the Rangers. He has given up just three runs in beating Texas the last three times he has faced the club.

Texas will counter with Nick Martinez, who is 3-11 with a 4.93 ERA. Martinez lost to the Angels last Thursday, as he yielded four runs (2 earned) and four hits in six innings.

The Rangers have won six of eight in Oakland this season.






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