 allowed one run in six innings with six strikeouts, and former closer Santiago Casilla pitched a scoreless ninth for his first save.Oakland rookie Lou Trivino struck out two batters to finish the eighth after coming in cold when Blake Treinen took a line drive from Shin-Soo Choo off his right leg and had to leave the game.Trivino was called up from Triple-A Nashville earlier in the day when Yusmeiro Petit went on the bereavement list following the death of his mother in Venezuela. Petit was away from the team for four days earlier this month to spend time with his mom.Hamels (1-4) gave up two runs in 6 1/3 innings and plunked three batters, matching the 2008 World Series MVP's career high set on April 20, 2016, in a 2-1 win against Houston. Rangers reliever Jake Diekman also hit a batter with a pitch.The Rangers clinched their fifth straight series loss at home, the most to start a season since the franchise moved to Texas in 1972.Mark Canha broke a scoreless tie in the sixth with his third homer, a solo shot that went in and out of leaping right fielder Nomar Mazara's glove just above the fence. Matt Olson hit an RBI double in the eighth.Beltre's liner to the gap when he was injured was a single that scored Choo from first. The 39-year-old in his 21st season limped to first and went immediately to the dugout. Beltre had two hits and both Texas RBIs, driving in the first run on a sacrifice fly.TRAINER'S ROOMAthletics: RHP Liam Hendriks was to have a procedure to remove a cyst in his right hip, with a plasma injection for a muscle tear. Hendriks was already on the disabled list because of a right groin strain. He should be throwing off a mound in a few weeks.Rangers: RHPs Tony Barnette (right shoulder inflammation) and Tim Lincecum (blister) threw live bullpen sessions. Manager Jeff Banister said Barnette probably won't return before Friday. Lincecum is on the 60-day DL.UP NEXTRHP Kendall Graveman (0-4, 10.07 ERA), Oakland's opening day starter, has allowed at least four runs without throwing more than five innings in all five starts, the longest such streak to start a season for an A's pitcher since at least 1908. RHP Doug Fister (1-2, 3.59) is scheduled for Texas in the series finale as he returns from a right hip strain. His most recent start was April 9.---More baseball: https://apnews.com/tag/MLBbaseball)
A's hope to keep momentum going against Rangers 2h ago• 2 min read The Achilles' heel for the Texas Rangers through the first month of the 2018 season has been relief pitching.That situation reared its ugly head again Monday when two relievers allowed six runs in the ninth inning to all but hand the Oakland Athletics a 9-4 victory in the opening game of a three-game series at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas.Texas will try to get some much-needed innings from its starting pitching as ace left-hander Cole Hamels (1-3, 4.76 ERA) opposes Athletics right-hander Andrew Triggs (1-0, 5.82) in the second game of the series on Tuesday.The Rangers are 0-8 in series-opening games this season, have won back-to-back games just once and are just 3-11 at home.Oakland broke open a tie game with a huge final inning at the plate, scoring four runs against Kevin Jepsen and two against Jesse Chavez, the Rangers' fifth and sixth pitchers."We need some length and some multiple innings from some guys," Texas manager Jeff Banister said after Monday's loss. "The past four days everybody in the bullpen has thrown quite a bit and we haven't created a lot of scoring opportunities for ourselves. All that kind of caught up with us tonight." The Texas bullpen ranks 13th of 15 teams in the American League in ERA.The Athletics piled up the extra-base hits in the ninth inning on Monday, getting a home run from Marcus Semien (on the first pitch of the inning), and RBI triples by Matt Chapman and Jake Smolinski in the final inning."Team morale is through the roof right now," A's right-hander Daniel Mengden said. "We're playing well, we're hitting well, we're playing good defense, we're throwing well." The win for Oakland was its third in a row and seventh in the past eight games. It is now above .500 at 12-11 for the season."We've just got to ride the wave out as long as we can and get timely hits," said Oakland designated hitter Khris Davis, who had a double and two RBIs early in the game. "The pitching has been fantastic so we want to be putting up runs. Couldn't ask for anything more." Triggs is scheduled to make his fifth start of the season. He allowed six runs in 1 1/3 innings in his last start after allowing five runs in 15 2/3 innings (2.87 ERA) in his first three starts.Triggs is 1-0 with a 1.02 ERA in four career appearances, including three starts, against Texas. That line includes a no-decision in his only start against the Rangers this year, a 3-1 A's win on April 2 in Oakland.Hamels will get his sixth start of the season and will be working on extended five days' rest after taking the loss in a 4-2 Texas setback on April 18 in Tampa Bay. Hamels has never finished April with four losses in his 13 professional seasons (1-3 in 2013 and 3-3 in 2008).Hamels is 3-3 with a 4.11 ERA (21 ER/46.0 IP) in eight career starts against the Athletics. He snapped a two-game losing streak against the A's in a 4-1 Texas victory on April 3 in Oakland.
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