An offensive outburst would be welcome by any team, at any time of the year, but given that the A’s are in the midst of the most challenging segment of their schedule, the timing was just right in Texas on Friday.

The A’s rolled to a 10-6 win over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. Though the Rangers rallied in the seventh and eighth innings, the A’s early lead was wide enough to diminish any late-game threats.

• Box score

The win also padded Oakland’s lead in the American League West, which is now seven games over the Astros, who were off on Friday. The A’s also retained the No. 1 seed in the AL postseason standings.

Oakland managed a balanced combination of patience and aggressiveness right away against Rangers opener Luis Garcia. The A's walked in their first three plate appearances, then opened the floor to Matt Olson, who launched his third career grand slam, a 426-foot shot to right field with a 109.6 mph exit velocity, per Statcast.

“It was huge to get out to that early lead,” said leadoff man Tommy LaStella, who drew the first walk. “Matty put us up there with that swing, and we just kind of cruised the rest of the way.”

Olson had five RBIs, matching his career high for a third time. He last drove in five on June 28, 2019, in Anaheim.

After hitting .169 over his first 34 games, Olson has been on a tear, batting .323 (10-for-31) with three homers and 14 RBIs in nine games since the A’s returned from a lengthy interruption to their schedule. The A’s are 6-3 over that stretch.

“His power has been there all year,” A's manager Bob Melvin said. “You look at his average, and it’s not indicative how he's played this year. He’s been through some rough stretches, like everybody has, but you look at the RBIs, you look at everything else but the average, and it would suggest he's having a really good year.”

The A’s piled on three more runs in a second inning highlighted by Sean Murphy’s 464-foot leadoff homer -- the longest dinger by an A’s hitter this season. That topped Murphy’s previous high of 455 feet, which he recorded on the third day of the season. His homer Friday was the sixth longest by an A’s hitter since Statcast began tracking in 2015.

“You know the power is going to be there,” Melvin said. “You know his offense is going to come around after he got off to a little bit of a slow start. But, as you saw, his power is significant. He's going to hit some balls a long way that you're going to be talking about, like tonight.”

“Like Johnny Bench,” A's starting pitcher Mike Fiers said. “I think [Astros manager] Dusty Baker made a comment, ‘He's not Johnny Bench. But he definitely could be if you throw him strikes.'"

Oakland is in the process of playing 12 games over nine days. When this stretch is complete, they’ll have played three doubleheaders in three different cities, including two on the road.

That made Fiers’ lengthy outing against Texas even more valuable. He pitched into the seventh, exiting after allowing a leadoff homer to Elvis Andrus and issuing walks to Rougned Odor and Ronald Guzmán.

Still, only three A’s relievers were needed to finish off the win, and that may have a carryover effect for Saturday’s twin bill. A rested bullpen is a luxury teams haven’t always been afforded in this odd season, especially with the number of doubleheaders that have popped up across the Majors.

No one would describe the A’s as lucky, per se, given that they will have played two doubleheaders by Tuesday, but it’s fair to say that they’re in a good spot heading into the first one.

“Obviously, we’re trying to use as few relievers as we possibly can, and Mike had it going pretty good,” Melvin said. “We had to do something in the [seventh], but we have to be cognizant of what our starters can do for us. The bottom line is getting a win in the first game of the trip.”