Major League Baseball
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Texas 5, Oakland 4
When: 8:05 PM ET, Saturday, September 27, 2014
Where: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Temperature: 83°
Umpires: Home - James Hoye, 1B - Mark Carlson, 2B - Bill Welke, 3B - Paul Emmel
Attendance: 35326

Rangers 5, Athletics 4: Robinson Chirinos hit a two-run homer and Jake Smolinski also went deep as host Texas defeated Oakland to prevent the Athletics from clinching an American League wild-card spot.

Adrian Beltre and Rougned Odor added RBI hits as the Rangers won for the 13th time in 15 games. Josh Donaldson homered for the Athletics, who possess a one-game lead over Seattle and are one game behind Kansas City for the top wild card.

Spencer Patton (1-0) was credited with the victory after pitching a scoreless seventh and Neftali Feliz allowed two baserunners in the ninth before recording his 13th save. Oakland’s Jeff Samardzija (7-13) struck out nine in seven innings while allowing five runs and eight hits.

Smolinski led off the seventh with a single and Samardzija retired the next two batters before Chirinos smacked the ball over the center-field fence to give Texas a 5-2 edge. Josh Reddick and Josh Lowrie each had RBI singles in the eighth for Oakland before pinch runner Billy Burns was thrown out stealing by Chirinos for the second out in the ninth.

Donaldson hit a one-out homer in the first to get Oakland on the board before Odor and Beltre each had run-scoring singles in the bottom of the inning to give Texas a 2-1 lead. Smolinski homered in the fourth to put the Rangers up by two and Oakland got one back in the fifth on a double-play grounder.

GAME NOTEBOOK: RHP Scott Baker received the start for Texas when LHP Derek Holland was scratched due to a migraine headache and he gave up two runs and four hits over four innings. … Donaldson and Reddick each had three hits for the Athletics. … Rangers DH Jim Adduci (concussion) played for the first time since Aug. 28 and went 0-for-3.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Oakland   Texas
Jeff Samardzija Player Scott Baker
Loss W/L No Decision
7.0 IP 4.0
9 Strikeouts 5
8 Hits 4
6.43 ERA 4.50
Hitting
Oakland   Texas
Josh Donaldson Player Jake Smolinski
3 Hits 2
1 RBI 1
1 HR 1
6 TB 5
.750 Avg .667
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Oakland 14 1 17 .378 13 8 3 1 0 0
Texas 9 2 15 .290 5 10 5 0 1 0