OAKLAND, Calif. -- Coco Crisp had a three-run triple a fourth-run fourth against a wild Yu Darvish, and Brandon McCarthy allowed one in seven innings as the A's cruised past the Rangers 7-1 for their third win in the four-game series.
Darvish established career-highs for runs allowed with six, surpassing the five-spot he allowed in his debut, and has lost three of his past four starts.
Crisp, who entered the game hitting .158 and with six RBIs, also homered in the third as the Rangers lost a half-game to their lead in the American League West. The margin over Anaheim is four games as the Rangers ahead across the bay for a three-game series at AT&T Park, where the are 0-11 all-time.
Oakland scored once on three hits in the first and again as Crisp found the empty seats in right field. But the Rangers quickly countered with an RBI single from Adrian Beltre in the fourth, and the Rangers were down 2-1 when Darvish went back out.
He retired Seth Smith on the first pitch of the inning, but walked Brandon Inge and Brandon Moss. Darvish got the jump on Kurt Suzuki before plunking him to load the bases.
Cliff Pennington lifted a sacrifice fly for the second out, but Darvish walked Jemile Weeks to extend the inning. After falling behind Crisp 2-0 in the count, the outfielder ripped a ball over Nelson Cruz’s head in right field to clear the bases.
With Scott Feldman and Alexi Ogando scheduled to start Saturday and Sunday, Darvish lingered into the sixth inning as manager Ron Washington tried to save the bullpen first a heavy weekend workload.
Darvish threw 110 pitches, but only 61 strikes as he matched his career-high with six walks.
-- Jeff Wilson
Every player on this team is struggling right now. Thats hard to do.
Posted by: Tony | June 07, 2012 at 06:36 PM
Pitching is no longer a strength... it's becoming a critical case. Why not, if he's ready and was in such good shape when they signed him, don't they bring up Roy?
The batting order just ran into good pitching. The Giant are on the rise and the next 3 games are in question.
The A's proved that the Rangers are not invencible. The Giants, Angles and Seattle are licking their chops.
Posted by: Bob In Arlington | June 07, 2012 at 07:59 PM