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Buck, Stewart spoil Washington's return to Oakland

Apr 21, 2007 - 5:21 AM ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Facing a former team for the first time is supposed to be a bittersweet moment for a new manager. The Texas Rangers left a pretty bad taste in their new manager's mouth.

Rookie Travis Buck and Shannon Stewart each homered and combined for nine RBI as the Oakland Athletics routed the Rangers, 16-4, in the first game of a three-game set.

Ron Washington, who served as an Oakland coach for 11 seasons before being hired as the Rangers' skipper in November, lost in his first game against his former employer.

It has been a tough early go for Washington. Over the last five games, Texas has been the victim of a no-hitter and been outscored, 43-22, in dropping four of five.

"For awhile there the pitching was doing pretty good and we were waiting for the offense to come around," Washington said. "I'm not frustrated though. When you get beat like that, what can you do? When they get their showers tonight, it's going to go down the drain. Nothing is lost right now."

Following Stewart's run-scoring single that gave the Athletics a 4-0 lead, Buck capped off an eight-run second with a bases-clearing double to deep center. With Oakland leading by the same score, Buck blasted his first major league home run - a two-run shot - in his next at-bat in the fourth to give the Athletics a 10-0 advantage.

"I did face Brandon McCarthy in spring training," Buck said. "The only homer I hit in spring training was against him. Tonight, I got to see someone that I'd seen before whereas the last couple of weeks I hadn't seen any of the pitchers I faced."

"He has looked like a good hitter from his first spring training at-bat and when the opportunity came to make the team, he's carried it over," Athletics manager Bob Geren said. "I hate to use the word 'surprised' when it comes to him, but I'm very happy for him. Buck is coming into his own and has moved steadily from ninth to eighth to seventh and continues to move his way up."

Stewart's three-run home run keyed another six-run outburst in the eighth.

Mark Ellis and Bobby Crosby combined for five RBI and each player had three hits and scored twice for the Athletics, who scored more in the second and eighth innings in this contest than they have in all but two games this season.

Joe Blanton (2-0) yielded three runs and seven hits with a walk and seven strikeouts over six innings.

"You have to approach it like it's still a 0-0 game," Blanton said. "It was warm tonight so the time on the bench while we were up didn't bother me. It's nice to have that big lead though so you can bear down and go after the hitters. You can really work quickly and throw the ball right in the zone."

Brandon McCarthy (1-3) was pounded for the second consecutive outing, allowing six runs and four hits in just one-plus inning. Over his last two starts, the righthander has lasted just three innings total and is 0-2 with a 36.00 ERA.

"He needs to start getting his pitches down in the zone," Washington said. "He's shown us in a couple of games that he's capable. If you don't hit your spots in this league, they (opposing hitters) will hit them for you. He'll figure it out and he's got a good head on his shoulders."

Kenny Lofton had three hits and Ian Kinsler scored twice for the Rangers, who have lost five of six.