Lowe’s 3-run homer helps Rangers over Athletics 10-3
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run home run, Jonah Heim drove in two runs against his former team and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 10-3 on Thursday.
Rangers right-hander Dane Dunning (3-6) earned his second consecutive win after going three months without a victory.
Texas completed a 4-3 homestand by splitting four games with the last-place A’s and clinched its first season series over Oakland since 2016 — their most recent winning season. All four games were played after manager Chris Woodward was fired Monday and replaced on an interim basis by coach Tony Beasley. Jon Daniels, the team’s president of baseball operations, was relieved of his duties Wednesday.
“Everybody’s in a spot where there’s so much going on,” said Lowe, who’s hitting .371 this month. “To be able to kind of clear it out and have a good flight, get on the road, have a long series (four games at Minnesota) where we can hopefully get out some more Ws is going to be good for the team.”
Lowe blasted a 2-1 curveball into the right-field seats in the fifth inning, one inning after taking a pitch to his upper back. He has 17 homers this season, one short of the career high he set last year.
Adolis Garcia hit a single leading off the second inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 15 games. It’s the longest active streak in the majors and Texas’ longest since Elvis Andrus’ 19-game streak in 2018. Heim’s triple brought Garcia home.
Dunning (3-6) allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Before his Aug. 6 win over the Chicago White Sox, he set a franchise record by going 15 starts without a win.
A day after Mark Mathias made his Rangers debut, he hit a solo home run in the second inning in his first start. He was acquired from Milwaukee on Aug. 1 for reliever Matt Bush.
Oakland rookie lefthander Zach Logue (3-7) allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings, and gave up six hits, including both homers.
“Just kind of erratic,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said of his starter. “Not real great command. There wasn’t a ton of swing-and-miss today. Ultimately, the two home runs got him.”
Sheldon Neuse, recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Wednesday, hit a two-run homer in the fourth for the Athletics’ first two runs.
SHORT HOPS
Athletics C Shea Langeliers, who was promoted Tuesday from Las Vegas, played his first game in the field following two games at DH. Langeliers threw out Marcus Semien trying to steal second in the first inning. Langeliers had three assists in the first three innings. … Rangers LHP Matt Moore returned after going on the paternity list on Sunday and pitched a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts. … Texas optioned LHP John King to Triple-A Round Rock.
WOODWARD STATEMENT
The former Texas manager provided his first public comments Thursday through a team news release.
“Through a pandemic, the heartbreaking tribulations of social injustice and against the backdrop of an aggressive rebuild, I continue to feel proud of the processes we initiated and the changes we were able to implement with the time we were given,” he said.
TRADING PLACES
Heim was acquired in February 2021 in the trade that included veteran shortstop Elvis Andrus, who was released by Oakland on Wednesday. Heim hit his first career triple in the second inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: An MRI showed OF Ramon Laureano, who was removed from Sunday’s game, has a Grade 1 left oblique strain. Kotsay said the next step will be working on pain tolerance.
Rangers: RHP Dennis Santana (ankle sprain) was sent to Round Rock to start a rehab assignment.
UP NEXT
Athletics: LHP Cole Irvin (6-10, 3.13 ERA) will open a three-game home series on Friday night against Seattle LHP Marco Gonzales (7-12, 4.18). Irvin is 0-3 this month and 0-5 in his career against the Mariners.
Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (9-3, 2.79) will face Minnesota RHP Dylan Bundy (6-5, 4.76) on Friday night as Texas begins a six-game road trip.
___
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
