 struck out six and walked one over seven impressive innings. He earned his first victory in five starts since beating the Rangers on July 23, coming off three straight no-decisions.He didn't allow a hit until Shin-Soo Choo's leadoff double in the fourth - the only hit the lefty surrendered - but the Rangers couldn't capitalize. A's relievers Jeurys Familia and Lou Trivino each pitched an inning to finish the two-hitter in 2 hours, 26 minutes, Oakland's second straight shutout and 12th in all.Davis, Jed Lowrie and Nick Martini each hit RBI singles among their two hits for the A's, while Josh Phegley drove in a run on a groundout. Stephen Piscotty had a pair of singles.Lowrie put Oakland on the board with his first-inning single.These upstart, surprising young A's won for the eighth time in 10 games and are showing no signs of letting the Astros out of their sights as September nears. A 9-0 win Monday night moved the A's into a first-place tie with reigning World Series champion Houston atop the AL West.Rangers rookie right-hander Ariel Jurado (2-3) gave up four runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings in his sixth career start and is winless in his last three outings.Adrian Beltre returned to the Rangers' lineup at designated hitter and went 0 for 3 after missing two games nursing a tender left hamstring that he re-injured last Monday against the Diamondbacks.Texas, shut out for the eighth time, has managed only five total hits in the first two games of the series.Oakland is 13-4 in August and 21-8 since the All-Star break.SPECIAL JERSEYA day after Davis had 10-year-old Anthony Slocumb sign his jersey and then hit a monster home run, the A's slugger gifted the jersey to the Oakland sixth-grader while also deciding to auction another uniform to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation - the group Slocumb attended with Monday.''It was such a perfect day/night,'' Slocumb's mother, Natalie Sanchez, said in an email. ''We are so humbled and grateful for everything. Anthony is gleaming with excitement still.'' TRAINER'S ROOMRangers: LHP Mike Minor, scratched from his scheduled start last Friday against the Angels with back stiffness and now set to pitch Wednesday afternoon's series finale, isn't expected to have lingering issues over the long haul with his back, according to manager Jeff Banister.Athletics: OF Matt Joyce, sidelined by a strained lower back, went 0 for 3 playing left field while beginning a rehab appearance for Triple-A Nashville. Manager Bob Melvin said he would then be off for a day then play designated hitter. The hope is Joyce would be available to rejoin the A's around Sept. 1 as the minor league season nears the end.UP NEXTMinor (9-6, 4.61 ERA) is riding a three-start winning streak for his longest such stretch since Sept. 16, 2012, to April 10, `13, with Atlanta. The A's counter with righty Edwin Jackson (4-2, 2.58) is 3-0 with a 0.74 ERA over his last four starts - his longest winning streak since June 30-July 11, 2013, when he also won three straight decisions.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
StubHubStubHubRangers get another shot at shutting down Davis, A's 7h ago• 2 min read OAKLAND, Calif. -- Khris Davis hopes to continue to terrorize Texas Rangers pitching when the Oakland Athletics go for a second consecutive win in the three-game series Tuesday night.Davis bombed his 37th home run of the season off the window of a luxury suite well beyond the fence in center field in Monday's 9-0 victory.It was his eighth home run in 14 games against the Rangers this season.Davis totaled 10 homers in 18 games against Texas in 2016, the second-most ever hit in a single season against the Texas franchise. Mickey Mantle hit 11 in 17 games against the Washington Senators in 1961.The A's still have five games remaining against the Rangers.The all-time record for an A's player against any opponent was set by Jimmie Foxx in the Philadelphia Athletics days, when he hit 13 in 22 games against the Detroit Tigers.The A's blasted four homers Monday, with two coming off the bat of rookie Ramon Laureano, the first two of his career."We made the park look small for a night," A's manager Bob Melvin gushed afterward. "We've got some power. KD (Davis) hit one off a window."I was joking in the dugout about these warm summer nights in Oakland, but they weren't buying it." The A's will set their sights Tuesday on Rangers rookie right-hander Ariel Jurado (2-2, 6.41 ERA), who two starts ago was torched by the New York Yankees for four homers.He's lost his last two starts, roughed up for 12 runs and 16 hits, including five home runs, in 11 innings.Jurado has never faced the A's.Oakland will counter with left-hander Brett Anderson (2-3, 3.90), who has been brilliant in August without much to show for it.In starts against Detroit, the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle, he's allowed two runs and 11 hits in 19 2/3 innings, but didn't get a win in any of the games. In fact, the A's lost two of three after totaling four runs of offensive support.Anderson got plenty of help when he faced the Rangers in Texas on July 23 in a 15-3 win. He limited the Rangers to two runs and six hits in eight innings.The 30-year-old is 2-4 with a 5.68 ERA in 12 games (nine starts) in his career against Texas.Anderson won't have to face one of his toughest outs, Adrian Beltre, who missed his second consecutive game Monday with a severe hamstring strain.The injury had the 21-year veteran talking retirement before the game."I'm not going to decide that until the offseason," the 39-year-old insisted. "Everything on the baseball field, everything with my family, everything with how I feel mentally is going to be part of (the decision)." Rangers manager Jeff Banister related Beltre's situation with that of another star athlete in the Dallas/Fort Worth area."It's the grind of getting ready to play. It's the time from once they get up in the morning to game time and the preparation of playing," he said. "Think about (Dallas Mavericks standout) Dirk (Nowitzki) and what he goes through on a daily basis to be prepared to play a basketball game."If they fall out of love with that process, that is probably when it becomes very challenging for them. Then they really have to make a decision."
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