Glenn Otto ended a nine-start winless streak and Marcus Semien delivered a home run as the Texas Rangers edged the Oakland Athletics 2-1 on Monday in Arlington, Texas.
The victory capped a transitional day for the Rangers, who parted ways with manager Chris Woodward. Tony Beasley, who had coached third base for the club, was victorious in his first game as interim manager.
While Texas earned its third win in a row, the struggling A’s took their ninth straight loss.
Otto (5-8) tossed six innings of one-run ball. Brock Burke followed with two shutout innings, and Jonathan Hernandez handled the ninth inning for his fourth save.
A’s starter James Kaprielian (3-7) worked 5 1/3 innings and surrendered two runs on six hits with two walks and five strikeouts.
It was a wild outing for Otto, who gave up just two hits. However, it was a struggle, as the right-hander walked a career-high six and struck out just one, the final batter he faced, Jonah Bride.
The win was the first for Otto since he beat the Seattle Mariners on June 4. In five innings that day, he walked five. In his past two starts, Otto has walked 10 in 11 innings but has allowed just three runs.
Texas pitching walked nine but gave up just three hits.
Kaprielian was lifted from a 1-1 game in the sixth inning after allowing a one-out triple to Leody Taveras. Sam Moll struck out Elier Hernandez for the second out, but Bubba Thompson ripped an RBI single to right field, accounting for the decisive run.
The Athletics’ first hit came in the third inning, and it was a big one. Nick Allen lifted a leadoff drive to left field that cleared the wall for his third homer of the season and second in as many games.
The Rangers responded in their half of the third when Semien belted a solo home run, his 18th.
Also in the third, Adolis Garcia extended his hit streak to a season-high 12 games with a single.
–Field Level Media
