A'S 10-RUN 2ND GUIDES BLOWOUT OF RANGERS
Darvish Walks 6 in 1-1/3 Innings
ARLINGTON, Tex., Apr. 28 (AP) - The Oakland Athletics became the second major
league team this season to reach double digit runs in a single inning, scoring
10 times in the second, and went on to crush the Texas Rangers 17-5 at Globe
Life Park. Rangers starter Yu Darvish entered the contest with an earned
run average below one in four previous starts but fought control problems before
being removed from the game having recorded four total outs. Josh
Donaldson finished with four hits, including a coup de grace grand slam home run
in the ninth inning, and drove in five for the A's.
The first inning was relatively uneventful. Darvish yielded a one-out
single in the top of the first but a double play grounder ended the inning with
him having faced the minimum three batters. Oakland starter Sonny Gray ran
into trouble in the bottom of the first, tossing a wild pitch and hitting a
batter leading to a one-out bases loaded situation, but a double play ball off
the bat of Alex Rios allowed him to avoid damage.
In the top of the second, the wheels came off for Darvish and the Rangers.
14 A's hitters came to the plate in the inning; fully half of them drew
walks. It was the first time in a big league game this season that a team
had drawn more than five walks in an inning. An eighth batter was hit by a
pitch. In fact, the A's managed only three hits in the frame and it wasn't
until Jed Lowrie, the ninth hitter of the inning, singled that they had even
one.
Things seemed unremarkable at first. Brandon Moss drew a lead-off free
pass from Darvish on seven pitches. Alberto Callaspo then drew a
five-pitch walk, putting runners on first and second. Darvish followed by
hitting John Jaso with a 1-0 pitch to load the bases. Josh Reddick then
became the third batter of the inning to walk, doing so on a 3-2 pitch, forcing
in the first run of the game. Darvish worked ahead of Daric Barton 0-2 but
surrendered a fly to center, which was caught by Rios, allowing Callaspo to
score with the A's now on top 2-0. At this point it still appeared as
though Darvish could avoid additional damage and keep the game competitive, but
he fell behind Eric Sogard 2-0 and then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing the
runners to move to second and third. Worse, he went on to walk Sogard,
refilling the bases. Coco Crisp then walked, forcing in the third run of
the frame. It was the fifth walk of the inning and Rangers manager Ron
Washington, with a thin bullpen following a 12-inning game at Seattle the
previous day, reluctantly called for Shawn Tolleson to begin throwing. In
quick order, Jed Lowrie singled to right, scoring Reddick and Sogard and chasing
Crisp to third, making the score 5-0. Donaldson singled to right-center,
plating Crisp and advancing Lowrie to third. It was now 6-0. Moss
then walked--for the second time in the inning, loading the bases yet again and
Washington finally came out to pull Darvish, who walked slowly to the dugout
amidst a chorus of boos. Tolleson got Callaspo to ground weakly to first
for the second out, but a run scored on the play to make it 7-0, bringing Jaso
to the plate. He crushed a 1-0 fastball into the third row of the upper
deck in right field for a three-run homer, giving Oakland a 10-0 lead.
Tolleson went on to walk Reddick on four pitches--the seventh free pass issued
in the frame--before finally retiring the side when Barton flied to center.
For all practical purposes, the game was over and both teams effectively played
like it. Adrian Beltre's two-run single in the bottom of the third got the
Rangers on the board. Prince Fielder's error in the fourth led to three
unearned A's runs, all of them scoring on Barton's home run to right
field. Texas got all three runs back in the bottom of the inning on a
two-run base hit off the bat of Michael Choice and Elvis Andrus' RBI-single,
which made the score 13-5.
Things settled down after the fourth, and neither team scored again until the
ninth when the A's piled on. Manager Washington was trying to guide Neil
Martinez through his fifth inning of relief, in an attempt to save what little
was left of his tattered bullpen. Martinez had already effectively saved
the staff, having thrown four scoreless frames. But after a single off the
bat of Reddick and a walk to Barton, putting runners on first and second with no
outs, it was obvious that Martinez was completely out of gas and Aaron Poreda
was summoned to the mound. It did not go well. Sogard fanned for the
first out but Crisp walked to load the bases. Lowrie then hit a bullet to
third that was speared by Beltre for the second out. But Oakland was not
to be denied. Donaldson sat on a first pitch fastball and got it, clubbing
it deep into the seats in left field for his second grand slam of the season and
a 17-5 lead that would prove to be the final score. It was the third grand
slam hit by an Oakland batter this year; the A's are the only team in baseball
with more than one slam to their credit.
4/28/2014, Oak14-Tex14, Globe Life Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2014 Athletics 0 10 0 3 0 0 0 0 4 17 12 0 6 2 2014 Rangers 0 0 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 5 10 2 9 1 Athletics AB R H BI AVG Rangers AB R H BI AVG Crisp cf 3 2 0 1 .284 Choice lf 5 0 1 2 .156 Lowrie ss 6 1 2 2 .218 Robertson,Dan lf 0 0 0 0 .000 Donaldson 3b 6 2 3 5 .312 Andrus ss 4 1 3 1 .287 Moss lf 4 3 1 0 .202 Wilson,Jo ss 1 0 0 0 .259 Callaspo dh 5 1 1 1 .185 Fielder 1b 2 0 1 0 .240 Jaso c 4 3 2 3 .322 Beltre 3b 4 0 1 2 .347 Reddick rf 3 2 1 1 .287 Rios rf 5 0 0 0 .263 Barton 1b 3 2 1 4 .174 Moreland dh 4 1 2 0 .314 Sogard 2b 4 1 1 0 .259 Murphy,Do 2b 4 0 0 0 .196 38 17 12 17 Martin,L cf 3 1 1 0 .184 Chirinos c 3 2 1 0 .220 35 5 10 5 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Gray W 1-3 7.0 9 5 5 4 5 120 76 4.10 Abad 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 8 7 0.00 Otero 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 18 14 3.21 9.0 10 5 5 4 6 146 97 Rangers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Darvish L 1-1 1.1 3 9 9 6 0 57 24 3.52 Tolleson,Sh 2.2 4 4 1 1 3 57 33 1.62 Martinez,N 4.0 3 2 2 2 2 62 34 7.90 Poreda 1.0 2 2 2 1 1 18 12 10.50 9.0 12 17 14 10 6 194 103 Tex: Robertson,Dan inserted at lf in the 9th Wilson,Jo inserted at ss in the 9th E-Fielder, Martin,L. 2B-Moss(6), Callaspo(4), Moreland(6), Martin,L(3). HR-Donaldson(6), Jaso(2), Barton(1). RBI-Crisp(12), Lowrie 2(14), Donaldson 5(27), Callaspo(9), Jaso 3(9), Reddick(10), Barton 4(7), Choice 2(5), Andrus(7), Beltre 2(10). K-Lowrie 2, Donaldson 2, Sogard 2, Choice, Beltre 2, Moreland, Martin,L, Chirinos. BB-Crisp 3, Moss 2, Callaspo, Reddick 2, Barton, Sogard, Fielder 2, Beltre, Martin,L. SF-Barton. HBP-Jaso, Fielder, Chirinos. HB-Gray 2, Darvish. WP-Gray, Darvish, Tolleson,Sh. GWRBI: Reddick Temperature: 68, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 7 MPH. Attendance: 21,372 Game Time: 3:09