ARLINGTON, Texas — The Oakland A’s overcame two home runs from Mitch Moreland and a controversial call to beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 in 10 innings Thursday afternoon at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Oakland scored the go-ahead run on Kila Ka’aihue’s single to right off Texas reliever Mike Adams, scoring Jonny Gomes with one out. Gomes led off the 10th with an infield hit. The second-place A’s (20-19) pulled within four games of Texas (24-19) in the American League West with the two-game series split. The Rangers had beaten Oakland in 13 of their previous 15 meetings. “We’ve struggled a little bit here,” said Oakland manager Bob Melvin, who was ejected in the sixth inning. “We lose a game here (Wednesday) when we didn’t play great, and we come back and deal with some adversity and such and get some big hits, and everyone contributes.” The A’s jumped on Texas starter Matt Harrison early. Three hits, including Kurt Suzuki’s two-run double, provided Oakland starter Brandon McCarthy with a 3-0 lead before he ever stepped on the mound. Harrison settled down from there, while the Rangers finally got to McCarthy in the fourth. Moreland went the opposite way with a two-run blast to left to slice the Oakland lead to 3-2. “He gave up three runs in the first inning. He kept us in the ballgame,” Texas manager Ron Washington said of Harrison. “He gave us a chance to get back in the game, and we did. And we took the lead. I’ll take that situation anytime going forward.” Moreland wasn’t done. The first baseman drilled a solo shot to right to tie the game in the sixth off McCarthy, a former Texas starter. It also marked the fourth career multi-home run game for Moreland. Craig Gentry followed with a double. Ian Kinsler singled Gentry to third before Texas took the lead with a controversial call that left Oakland fuming. Elvis Andrus squared to bunt, but instead of getting the ball down, it popped up short of the mound. McCarthy, all 6-foot-7 of him, dove, and replays appeared to show he got his glove under the ball. Home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled the ball hit the ground, so instead of a double-play, Gentry scored to take a 4-3 lead. Melvin came out to argue the call to no avail and was tossed by Diaz. “I threw the ball to third,” McCarthy said. “Then he said I trapped it. I said, ‘What?’ and sort of flew off the handle. I was pretty furious once the disbelief set in.” Oakland didn’t dwell on the tough break for long. Josh Reddick smashed one into the Rangers’ bullpen in the seventh off reliever Alexi Ogando to knot the score at 4-4. It was the first home run and second run allowed by Ogando this season. The Rangers did have Michael Young at third with one out in the ninth, but weren’t able to get him home. Washington was asked if the loss was one of the more frustrating of the season. “I wouldn’t call it frustrating. That’s harsh,” he said. “Those guys have delivered so much in those situations. It’s a tough loss, but it’s not frustrating because we still have a lot of games on the schedule. “You can’t get frustrated with one game, because that frustration ends up just snowballing. We’ve just got to come out and play ball and take advantage of opportunities. And we’re going to do that.” Texas completed its seven-game homestand at 3-4 and heads out on a six-game road trip beginning with three at instate rival Houston on Friday. The A’s return to the Bay Area to begin a three-game series Friday at San Francisco. NOTES: Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton didn’t start Thursday, but came in as a pinch hitter in the eighth. Currently the American League leader in each of the Triple Crown categories, Hamilton had his 16-game hitting streak snapped. … Oakland third baseman Brandon Inge (groin) was placed on 15-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday. The A’s recalled infielder Adam Rosales from Triple-A Sacramento to replace Inge. … Oakland also brought up left-handed reliever Travis Blackley and optioned Andrew Carignan to A Sacramento. Blackley was claimed off waivers from San Francisco on Tuesday. … Texas owns the largest division lead in the AL at 4.0 games. … The attendance of 47,182 was the 13th sellout of this season, which is the third most in club history.

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Kila Ka’aihue had a tiebreaking single in the 10th inning, and the Oakland A’s bounced back from a disputed call on squeeze play that cost them the lead to beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 Thursday.

Ka’aihue’s single off Mike Adams (0-2) drove in Jonny Gomes, who had three hits. Josh Reddick’s 10th homer, off Alexi Ogando, tied the score at 4 in the seventh.

Ryan Cook (1-0) escaped a ninth-inning jam and has pitched 19? scoreless innings this season, most among AL relievers. Brian Fuentes recorded his third save.

Mitch Moreland homered twice for Texas.

Oakland fell behind 4-3 in the sixth when Craig Gentry scored from third on a squeeze bunt that Brandon McCarthy thought he had caught. A’s manager Bob Melvin was ejected for arguing the call.

The Rangers had runners at first and third with one out in the ninth but couldn’t score.

Michael Young reached on a two-base error by Josh Donaldson and went to third on a groundout. Nelson Cruz struck out between intentional walks to David Murphy and Mike Napoli, then Brandon Snyder grounded out with the bases loaded.

Moreland pulled Texas to 3-2 with a two-run homer just over the left-field fence in fourth inning, and he tied it with a deeper shot to right field in the sixth. Josh Hamilton watched both of those shots from the dugout and was supposed to have had the day off, but he came in as a pinch-hitter and stayed in the game in center field. He made the first out in the eighth and 10th innings.

Three batters after Moreland’s tying homer, the Rangers took the lead on a disputed squeeze that led to Melvin’s ejection. With Gentry breaking from third, Elvis Andrus popped up a bunt between the mound and home plate. McCarthy thought he’d caught the ball on the fly and threw it to third for what he figured would be a double play, but home plate umpire Laz Diaz ruled he had trapped it. Gentry was ruled safe for a 4-3 Texas lead, and Oakland didn’t get anybody out.

Melvin ran from the dugout to argue, gesturing repeatedly at Diaz before he was finally thrown out.

Reliever Grant Balfour replaced McCarthy after the disputed bunt and escaped a jam, allowing Oakland to tie the score again in the seventh on Reddick’s 10th home run. The shot into the Rangers bullpen in right-center field ended Texas reliever Ogando’s scoreless streak at 15 1/3 innings.

Moreland never got a chance for a third home run. He was replaced by pinch-hitter Brandon Snyder in the seventh when Oakland went to left-handed reliever Jordan Norberto. Snyder flied out to right with the go-ahead run at second base.

McCarthy gave up eight hits and four runs in 5 1/3 innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.

Matt Harrison allowed the first five batters to reach base in a three-run Oakland first inning before pitching four shutout frames. He allowed at least one hit in all five innings, then was replaced by Mark Lowe after striking out Ka’aihue to start the sixth.

Texas right fielder Cruz made a pair of diving catches to help Harrison keep the game close. His grab of Donaldson’s line drive in the gap in right-center field probably saved a run in the third inning.

Harrison allowed eight hits and three runs in 5 innings. He walked three and struck out three.

Kurt Suzuki had a two-run double in the first for Oakland after Gomes drove in the first run with a double.

NOTES: Oakland put 3B Brandon Inge on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin. The move was retroactive to Sunday. He started the season on the DL when he was still with Detroit. That time it was a strained left groin. … Inge’s replacement, Adam Rosales, started at 1B after getting recalled from Triple-A Sacramento and reached base in all four at-bats, his first of the season. He had three walks and a single. … Oakland’s Jemile Weeks was caught stealing on Harrison’s pickoff move in the first inning, ending Oakland’s streak of 20 straight successful stolen bases. That was two shy of the club record. … Suzuki had two passed balls. … RHP Joe Nathan pitched on three consecutive days for the first time since joining the Rangers. He had a perfect ninth in a 4-4 game

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

The Texas Rangers finished their second round through the rotation and played even better than the first time through. As a matter of fact, the second round finished the same as the first with the Rangers going 4-1 and their only loss coming due to their closer Joe Nathan.

With that said, the Rangers’ starters, after 10 games, are still undefeated.

Colby Lewis – 1-0, 1.42 ERA, 15 Ks

After pitching a solid game, save an Adam Dunn home run, in his first appearance of the season, Colby Lewis followed up with an even better game. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball while only giving up five hits. Lewis relied on mostly his slider and completely took the Seattle Mariners out of the game. Unfortunately, Joe Nathan gave up three runs in the ninth to blow the save and cost Lewis a hard fought win.

Derek Holland – 1-0, 3.38 ERA, 13 Ks

Derek Holland was the Week 1 tough luck pitcher, taking the no-decision thanks to Joe Nathan giving up the win. His second start would be different as he pitched a brilliant game over Seattle. Holland lowered his ERA a full point by throwing 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball, with five hits and eight strikeouts.

Matt Harrison – 2-0, 0.64 ERA, 7 Ks

Matt Harrison, of all pitchers, is the first Rangers’ pitcher to earn two wins on the season as he continues to be the best hurler in the rotation. After pitching a shutout in his first start, Harrison went eight full innings in his second start, giving up seven hits and only allowing one run, while striking out four. Harrison is the MVP starting pitcher at the start of the season.

Yu Darvish – 1-0, 4.76 ERA, 9 Ks

Yu Darvish continues to struggle with his location but he is not giving up the runs to lose. In his second start for Texas, Darvish loaded the bases twice, and both times, Texas worked their way out of the mess. Darvish gave up an unsightly nine hits and four walks in his start over Minnesota but only gave up one earned run. He also struck out four. Reliever Robbie Ross took the win though, and Darvish remains at one.

Neftali Feliz – 1-0, 2.25 ERA, 7 Ks

After the first week, Texas had two starting pitchers shut out their opponents. While Harrison continued to roll, Neftali Feliz struggled. Feliz left in the sixth inning after giving up three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out three. What was discouraging was letting the first three batters get on in the sixth and allowing one of them to score before Robbie Ross came in and worked out of it. Ross took his second win in as many days and Feliz remains at one.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Texas Rangers fan his entire life, watching the Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate play for over 30 years. While Texas has moved their Triple-A team, Shawn still remains a loyal Rangers fan and awaits the year they finally win the big one.

Source: MLB.COM

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