The Texas Rangersscored eight runs while the Californian Athleticsscored five runs.
The Rangers seem to have finally found themselves a punching bag and the veterans were lining up to throw some haymakers.
September started in a similar fashion to how August ended with Texas beating up on the hapless Athletics. The catalyst tonight was the guys you hope can do damage as hitters No. 2-4, Corey Seager, Wyatt Langford, and Brandon Nimmo, combined for eight of Texas' twelve hits, five of their eight runs, and six of the eight RBIs.
Not be left out, No. 5 hitter Ezequiel Duran worked a couple of walks and drove in one of the other runs while also making a sensational play at second base to keep the would-be tying run off the board in the early goings.
The Rangers scored first in the game's opening frame when Nimmo drove in Seager with a two-out double. Meanwhile, Texas starter MacKenzie Gore was able to keep the Gore Inning to a minimum as the A's tied the game at a run apiece in the top of the third before Gore escaped a bases loaded jam to end the threat.
A half inning later, in a déjà vu moment, the Rangers reclaimed the lead and never looked back when Nimmo drove on Seager with a two-out base hit. The Rangers added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth when, you guessed it, Nimmo drove in a couple with a bases loaded, two-RBI single.
After another run in the fifth and two more in the sixth, Nimmo came up again with two outs and singled in the Rangers' eighth and final run.
Despite the Rangers leading 8-1 heading into the seventh inning, the A's eventually made the game close enough to force Texas to bring in Jacob Latz with an out in the ninth after Adam Macko allowed a run in the seventh and the A's scored three runs off freshly-signed reliever Trevor Williams when Texas tried to squeeze two innings from the newcomer.
Nevertheless, Latz got a couple of quick strikeouts and the Rangers moved back to within a game in the American League West with Houston succumbing to Chicago this evening.
The victory is Texas' third in a row, which drags them back to within a game of .500. In addition, the win gave the Rangers their sixth of the year against the A's which evened the season series making tomorrow's finale the season decider between these AL West clubs.
Player of the Game: You probably won't find an easier pick than the guy who went 4-for-5 with five RBIs, including three RBIs with two outs.
Nimmo hadn't really been the guy to carry the load since some hot hitting early in the season, but each of his hits tonight delivered runs, including the rare RBI hit with the bases loaded for Texas.
Up Next: The Rangers and A's close this series out in a battle between lefties with LHP Cody Bradford set to make the start for Texas opposite LHP Jacob Lopez for futurely Vegas.
The Wednesday afternoon finale first pitch from The Shed is set for 1:35 pm CDT and you can catch it on the Rangers Sports Network.
