Two innings of shaky defense dug the hole, and the A's never climbed out, as Texas took the opener of a two-game series 6-1 Tuesday night at the Oakland Coliseum.
An announced crowd of 15,115 was left wondering what happened as the Rangers took the lead with one run in the third and three more in the fourth.
A's starter Bartolo Colon was in the middle of the defensive woes in the third. Chris Carter made a diving stop on Craig Gentry's two-out ground ball to the right side, but Colon was a step too late in covering the base, and Gentry reached.
Colon compounded matters with an errant pickoff attempt, allowing Gentry to go to third. Elvis Andrus eventually singled in Gentry for the game's first run.
Things got no better for Colon in the fourth. Adrian Beltre launched a leadoff home run to left field, followed by a Michael Young single.
Nelson Cruz added a liner into deep right field, and Brandon Moss' twisting and turning attempt at a catch ended with the ball glancing off his glove for a double. Young went on to score on a single by Mike Napoli, and Cruz scored on a bunt single by Gentry.
When the A's had their chances to counter, Texas pitcher Roy Oswalt poured ice water on their red-hot offense. Josh Reddick belted his 21st home run of the season to make it 4-1 in the seventh, but that was all the A's would do offensively against the veteran, who struck out six in 61/3 innings.
The A's did load the bases in the
eighth, but Texas reliever Mike Adams struck out Yoenis Cespedes looking and got Moss to pop out to end the threat.- Coco Crisp's injured left shoulder will not land him on the disabled list for the time being, A's manager Bob Melvin said before the game.
Crisp, who left Friday's game in Minnesota early and missed the rest of the weekend, shagged fly balls and took batting practice Tuesday.
He saw a doctor on Monday's off day, and Melvin said tests showed nothing structurally wrong with the shoulder. Crisp had surgery on the shoulder in 2009.
"He'll do some hitting and game activity today, and I think we'll have a better indication of whether or not potentially he's in the lineup tomorrow," Melvin said. "We're a lot closer than we were. (In the) last couple days, he went and saw the doctor and there's nothing structurally wrong. It's just a matter of when he's comfortable swinging the bat from both sides."
Crisp hit several line drives from both sides of the plate during batting practice, hitting one out from the right side.
- With Crisp likely to stay off the D.L., outfielder Collin Cowgill was activated and sent to Triple-A Sacramento. Cowgill had been rehabbing his sprained left ankle in Sacramento, and with recent addition Chris Carter hitting well after being called up, there was no roster spot for Cowgill.
"It would've been one thing if Coco was a D.L. candidate. We don't expect that to be the case now," Melvin said. "Chris was the one guy that wasn't here probably when (Cowgill) was, and with the impact he's having, it's important to have Chris here right now so there's just not a spot for Collin."
Cowgill probably will see time at all three outfield positions while in Sacramento, Melvin said.
- Brett Anderson (elbow surgery) was encouraged with his 45-pitch simulated game Monday, and could be headed for a rehab assignment soon.
"The body feels pretty good today, so we'll see how the arm feels," Anderson said. "Hopefully it keeps going this way. I'm getting closer and closer to getting rehab starts and hopefully I'll get back up here fairly soon."
Anderson said a possible next step could be a two- or three-inning rehab stint at Single-A Stockton on Saturday. Melvin said Anderson will throw a bullpen Wednesday and then a decision on any potential rehab assignment would be made.
- Dallas Braden (shoulder surgery) also threw a bullpen session Tuesday, throwing his full complement of pitches in a 40-pitch outing. Melvin said Braden was "bouncing off the mound" after being able to throw his breaking ball, changeup and cutter.
- Brandon McCarthy (strained shoulder) played catch Tuesday on flat ground, and Melvin said the next step is likely a bullpen session on Tuesday.
- Melvin said Yoenis Cespedes (thumb) could be back in the outfield Wednesday, depending on how he felt with the glove on his hand during batting practice Tuesday.
- Reddick's home run in the seventh inning meant the A's have homered in 21 of their last 22 games.
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