ARLINGTON -- The Athletics have spent more time alone atop the AL West standings in the past week than they had in the previous three seasons combined -- and if they plan to climb up there again, they’ll need to get acclimatized to the fact that in that rare air, the margin for mistakes is miniscule.
The Athletics saw that Saturday night in a 4-3 loss to the Rangers, who capitalized seemingly every time the A’s failed to execute and joined them in a tie for the division lead at 14-13. Whoever wins Sunday’s rubber match at Globe Life Field will emerge from the series as the sole occupant of first place again.
Saturday showed how small the difference between front-runner and also-ran can be. Starter Jeffrey Springs was done in by just a few at-bats that went wrong; although he allowed four earned runs in six innings, the lefty hardly got knocked around. Compared with his previous outing, in which he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits -- including four homers -- against the White Sox, Springs on Saturday looked more like the pitcher who had been the Athletics’ most consistently effective starter throughout the first month of the season, posting a 1.46 ERA through his first four starts.
There weren’t many mistakes for Springs on Saturday, but there was at least one too many when Josh Jung went deep for a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth. That came on an 84.1 mph slider that might have caught more of the plate than Springs wanted.
“I felt like the command still wasn't great, but I was able to make pitches when I needed to,” Springs said of his outing. “Obviously, the big one was the breaking ball there to Jung. I don't feel like it was a terrible pitch, just not in the spot I was wanting to do it. He put a good swing on it -- inside out, the other way. Unfortunately, he beat me on that one.”
Springs’ other miscues were less glaring: a hit batsman and a walk to start the third inning, which then briefly went awry thanks to a bunt single and a missed chance for a double play.
The Rangers scored twice off Springs in that frame after he hit leadoff batter Danny Jansen, then walked Evan Carter on a full count. Rangers No. 9 batter Sam Haggerty caught Springs off-guard with a bunt single in front of the mound, to Springs’ right. The next hitter, Brandon Nimmo, lined out to left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, who threw the ball toward home where there was little chance of getting Jansen out on the sacrifice fly. Had Soderstrom gotten the ball to the infield, the A’s might’ve doubled off Carter, who had strayed far from first.
Instead, another run scored on a Corey Seager single, plating Carter.
Seager struck again in the sixth with a leadoff single that set up Jung’s back-breaking two-run shot that gave Texas the lead for good.
“Other than that, it was, it was a clean game ... there was no hard contact in the game for Jeffrey,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “It's just unfortunate that one mistake cost him a win.”
The Athletics had ample chances offensively against Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore, but couldn’t break through despite forcing him to throw 106 pitches in just five innings.
The A’s took a 3-0 lead in the third before the Rangers answered back; one of those A’s runs came from Nick Kurtz, who drew a walk for the 15th consecutive game in that frame, tying the longest games-walked streak in franchise history with Rickey Henderson (1993), Max Bishop (1933) and Topsy Hartsel (1905). No one in the Majors had walked in that many consecutive games since Barry Bonds did it in 17 straight in 2007.
Kurtz “obviously has one of the better eyes in the game right now,” Kotsay said. “To be recognized for getting on base ... it’s not just team-oriented, but it's also a great maturation process for him.”