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Guerrero single in 12th lifts Rangers over A's

May 13, 2010 - 11:49 PM By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer

ARLINGTON, Texas(AP) -- After all the squawking about balking, Vladimir Guerrero left no doubt about the ending.

Guerrero lined a one-out, RBI single deep into the left-center field gap in the 12th inning Thursday to give Texas a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics in a game in which one balk became a base hit and another led to the ejection of the Rangers catcher.

"It's really a weird situation," said C.J. Wilson, the Rangers starter who had the balks. "We won the game and that's really the most important thing."

Guerrero was 0 for 5 before his liner off closer Andrew Bailey (0-1) drove home Michael Young. Texas took two of the three in the series matching the AL West's top teams.

Jake Fox had three hits for Oakland, including a single in the fourth on a pitch from Wilson that umpires had signaled was a balk. But Fox hit the ball, so he wound up with a base hit and Wilson wasn't charged with a balk.

"Everybody moves up, the balk's ignored, and the runner can continue to try to advance and can be put out," umpire crew chief Tim Tschida said. "It's rare. It probably happens three, four times a year."

Wilson got called for another balk in the seventh, when he flinched his body while still on the rubber without delivering a pitch. Home plate umpire Bob Davidson immediately sent runner Josh Donaldson from second to third base.

"He said he started and stopped," manager Ron Washington said. "That was Balkin' Bob back there. That's all I can tell you."

Washington came out for an extended conversation with Davidson only after catcher Matt Treanor got ejected. Treanor was facing the mound when he got tossed for a conversation with the umpire that quickly escalated.

"I said something about the balk initially and it developed into something more personal after that," Treanor said. "He was grilling me basically and it comes down to I was telling him I'm not disrespecting you the way you're disrespecting me, I guess in so many words. ... I didn't feel like I deserved to be tossed."

Tschida said Treanor was ejected for "excessive arguing" after being told to stop. Washington wasn't thrown out of the game.

Tschida said Treanor used profanity in disputing the call.

"He balked. Matt's reaction immediately was he turned around," Tschida said. "He wouldn't let it go. Over the shoulder, he kept doing it, and that was it."

On the pitch before that, Cliff Pennington hit a fly down the right-field line that he and manager Bob Geren both thought was fair and would have scored Donaldson. Geren came out to question first base umpire Alfonso Marquez. Pennington eventually grounded out to end the inning.

Elvis Andrus led off the 12th with his fourth hit, but was then caught stealing. Young drew a walk and Josh Hamilton singled before Guerrero's winning hit.

Dustin Nippert (2-3), the fifth Rangers reliever and the loser in the 13-inning series opener Tuesday, worked around a leadoff single in the 12th.

A balk was being discussed even before the game, when Geren questioned the umpires' postgame decision the previous night that resulted in a call against Athletics pitcher Gio Gonzalez.

In Oakland's 10-1 loss Wednesday night, Gonzalez was initially charged with a throwing error after he awkwardly stepped off the rubber and threw wildly to the plate when Ian Kinsler suddenly broke from third base. About a half-hour after the game after viewing a replay, the umpires called the press box and said it was actually a balk.

After Fox's balky single in the fourth Thursday, Landon Powell walked to load the bases before Donaldson's single made it 1-all.

Andrus hit an RBI single in the third and extended his hitting streak to 13 games, the longest active in the majors.

Wilson allowed a run and four hits in seven innings. The left-hander's ERA dipped slightly from 1.51 to 1.48.

Oakland starter Ben Sheets pitched into the seventh, allowing a run and three singles with eight strikeouts. He had given up 17 runs over 7 1-3 innings his previous two starts on the road, when he became the first A's pitcher to give up at least eight earned runs in consecutive starts. He gave up only two runs in 6 1-3 innings Saturday at home.

"I picked up right where I left off the last start," he said. "I had good rhythm, made some key adjustments. I think six innings is a great start. I keep talking about getting deeper in the game."

NOTES: Rangers RF Nelson Cruz will be activiated from the 15-day disabled list Friday. Texas plans to option 1B Ryan Garko to Triple-A Oklahoma. Garko didn't travel with the team to Toronto.