 was crisp while striking out four and walking one in his most effective start in nearly two months. The lefty, who was scratched from his scheduled start last Friday because of back stiffness, allowed only two runners and faced the minimum through six innings. Both runners were erased on double plays.Cory Gearrin, Alex Claudio, Chris Martin and Jose Leclerc combined to retire nine batters and complete the four-hitter.The A's loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Leclerc struck out Nick Martini on a check swing for his sixth save in 10 opportunities.Texas was shut out in the first two games of the series and had a 19-inning scoreless streak before Choo's leadoff homer on the first pitch from Oakland starter Edwin Jackson (4-3) in the first inning.It was Choo's fourth game-opening home run this season and the 27th of his career.After Choo walked and scored on Beltre's single in the third, Gallo opened the fourth with a towering drive off Jackson. Gallo's 74 home runs since the start of last season are the most by a Rangers player over a two-year span since Mark Teixeira had 76 from 2005-06.Beltre singled in Andrus in the fifth to make it 4-0 and chase Jackson, who allowed four runs in 4 1/3 innings and lost for the first time since July 20. The right-hander had yielded two runs over his previous 24 1/3 innings.Piscotty's two-out double off Cory Gearrin in the seventh ended the shutout bid.TRAINER'S ROOMRangers: Profar started again at third base in place of Beltre and made a diving stop on Ramon Laureano's sharp grounder in the first inning.UP NEXTRangers: RHP Drew Hutchison (2-2, 5.71 ERA) makes his fourth start of the season Friday against the Giants. Hutchison won his previous outing when he allowed two runs in five innings against the Angels.Athletics: RHP Trevor Cahill (5-2, 3.12) pitches the opener of a four-game series in Minnesota on Thursday. Cahill has won four consecutive decisions, his longest winning streak since 2013.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
StubHubStubHubRangers try to slow down A's, Davis 9m ago• 2 min read OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Texas Rangers' hottest pitcher, Mike Minor, has the unenviable task of trying to slow down one of baseball's hottest hitters, the Oakland Athletics' Khris Davis, when the two American League West clubs conclude a three-game series Wednesday afternoon.Davis doomed the Rangers for a second consecutive night Tuesday, smacking his 38th home run of the season, a two-run shot, as part of a three-RBI performance in a 6-0 victory.Davis also homered in Monday's 9-0 romp, and now has nine home runs in 15 games against Texas this season.A's manager Bob Melvin shrugged his shoulders when informed of Davis' dominance of the Rangers after Tuesday's win, insisting he was even more pleased with his clean-up hitter's two-out, two-strike RBI single than his homer."Just as impressive are his RBIs," Melvin said. "He's getting better. Now he's driving in runs with two-out singles. That club wasn't in his bag for a while." Davis' three RBIs raised his season total to 102, giving him three straight years with 100 or more. He established a career-high last year with 110.He has 36 more games in which to get the nine RBIs he needs to surpass his personal best. And he has four more shots at the Rangers, against whom he has hit nine homers with a whopping 24 RBIs in the clubs' first 15 meetings.Davis will dig in Wednesday against Minor (9-6, 4.61 ERA), against whom he has one career home run and two other hits in eight at-bats.Minor collared Davis with an 0-for-2 in July when he pitched the first five innings of a 13-10 home loss to the A's. One of the outs was a deep fly to left field.Minor left that game with a 4-2 lead after five innings, only to see the Rangers' bullpen implode.The 30-year-old has pitched well in his last 11 starts, going 5-2 with a 3.53 ERA.He sees outings like Wednesday's as a potential springboard to future success."The first half of the season was pretty bad," he said of a 4-4 start with a 5.76 ERA. "The last couple of weeks or month I think I've pitched better. But I'm actually looking forward to the offseason to get better and come back next year and have a complete, good full season." Minor is 1-1 with a 3.68 ERA in five games, including two starts, against the A's in his career.Oakland will sent right-hander Edwin Jackson (4-2, 2.58) to the mound in search of a three-game sweep.The veteran pitched his worst game of the season at Texas in July in his only previous start against the Rangers this year, failing to get out of the fifth inning after giving up five runs and seven hits.One of the hits was a three-run homer by Rangers catcher Robinson Chirinos.The A's rallied to win the game 6-5.Jackson has started eight games against the Rangers in his career, going 2-3 with a 4.56 ERA.
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