Andrus hits 1st slam, but has costly error vs. A's

July 25th, 2018

ARLINGTON -- Rangers shortstop hit the first grand slam of his career Tuesday against the A's, but a costly error in the eighth inning left him with mixed emotions after a 13-10 loss at Globe Life Park.
Andrus' home run off reliever J.B. Wendelken in the sixth inning made it a 10-2 lead for the Rangers and capped off a six-run sixth. The Texas bullpen, however, was unable to hold the lead and allowed 11 unanswered runs to score.
The A's rallied for four runs in the eighth, and their first run of the inning came on a fielding error by Andrus.

"A little bit of both sides, I got from that game," Andrus said. "Unfortunately, things are not going the way we want them to. I thought we were going to win that game for sure in the third or fourth inning, but they just kept pushing and pushing. That team is playing really good right now, and I think we kind of relaxed too much and left the door open for them to come back."
The Rangers have now dropped 12 of their last 14 games, and they are 4-14 in the month of July.
"Everybody has to keep working," Andrus said. "We have to turn the page, that's the best [thing] we can do right now. The last thing we want to do is start thinking, 'What's happening this year, how did it happen to us?'
"It's not good, it's not comfortable playing like that, but there's nothing you can do. You have to take the best of every game, turn the page and keep playing hard."
What Andrus can take from this game is that it was one of his most productive performances at the plate since returning from the disabled list on June 18. His slam gave him five RBIs on the night. He also scored on a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.

Those five RBIs matched a career high for Andrus. He had five RBIs in a game against the Rays on May 30, 2017. Andrus is currently on a six-game hitting streak and is 7-for-18 with two home runs and six RBIs on the homestand.
Andrus has also homered on back-to-back nights. His long ball in Monday's series opener was the 1,500th hit of his career, making him the fifth player in Rangers history to reach that mark.