Texas Rangers vs Oakland Athletics Box Score on Aug 25, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Aug 26, 2017

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Khris Davis hit 35th and 36th home runs of the season, right-hander Kendall Graveman pitched seven strong innings and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Texas Rangers 3-1 on Friday night at Oakland Coliseum.

The Rangers fell two games behind Minnesota for the second wild-card spot in the American League.

Davis hit solo shots in the fourth and seventh innings off Texas right-hander Nick Martinez. He moved into second place in the American League home run race behind the New York Yankees' Aaron Judge, who has 37 blasts.

Graveman (4-4) allowed one run on nine hits, struck out six and walked none in his fifth start since spending over two months on the disabled list with a strained right shoulder. He improved to 2-0 in three starts against Texas this season.

Chris Hatcher pitched a scored eighth and Blake Treinen a perfect ninth for his sixth save for the A's and ninth of the season.

Davis snapped a 1-1 tie with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh, a 432-foot blast. He launched Martinez's 2-1 changeup high over the center field wall.

Matt Joyce followed with a double to right center and scored with two outs on Matt Chapman's sharp single to center, increasing Oakland's lead to 3-1.

Martinez was called up from Triple-A Round Rock on Friday and made his 14th start of the season for Texas. He allowed three runs and four hits in a career high-matching seven innings. He struck out seven, tying his career high, and walked two.

Martinez replaced Tyson Ross in the rotation. Ross moved to the bullpen, and A.J. Griffin had his scheduled start pushed back two days to Sunday.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but squandered a chance to do more damage.

Delino DeShields lined a leadoff single to right, moved to second on Elvis Andrus' one-out single and scored when Adrian Beltre grounded a single to left.

With runners on first and second, Graveman got Nomar Mazara to ground into a double play, ending the threat.

The A's were hitless against Martinez until Davis lined his 2-0 fastball for a solo home run to left with one out in the fourth, making it 1-1. Before that, the closest Oakland came to a hit was Marcus Semien's fly ball left that Drew Robinson caught a step in front of the wall to end the third inning.

NOTES: Rangers OF Carlos Gomez (excision of a cyst behind his right shoulder), took batting practice and worked out on the field before Friday's game against Oakland. Barring a setback, Gomez will likely be reinstated from the disabled list Saturday, the first day he's eligible. ... RHP Nick Gardewine was optioned to Double-A Frisco. Gardewine made his major-league debut Tuesday against the Angels. ... Rangers 3B/OF Joey Gallo (concussion) took pregame batting practice as he continued to recover from a concussion. He's eligible to be instated from the seven-day concussion disabled list on Tuesday. ... A's RHP Paul Blackburn (right hand contusion) was placed on the 10-day disabled list, retroactive to Wednesday. The rookie was hit on his right hand Tuesday by Orioles OF/INF Trey Mancini's line drive to lead off the fifth inning at Camden Yards. He is still unable to grip a baseball. RHP Chris Smith will return from the bullpen to the rotation Tuesday and make a spot start in place of Blackburn against the Angels. ... A's RHP Michael Brady was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and began his fourth stint of the season with Oakland. ... OF Mark Canha was recalled from Triple-A Nashville and began his fourth stint of the season with the A's. He'll start in center field on Saturday.