OAKLAND — The A’s are down to one, final game at the Oakland Coliseum. They can only hope they fare better in the sendoff.
In their penultimate game at the Coliseum, the A’s lost to the Rangers, 5-1, in front of an announced crowd of 35,270. Now, nine innings are all that’s left of A’s baseball in The Town.
A night removed from Jacob Wilson delivering the potential last walk-off hit at the Coliseum, the A’s went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 12 runners on base, repeatedly failing to get the big hit that would get their fans going.
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Oakland’s best opportunity to do true damage came with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning, loading the bases as Lawrence Butler singled and Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers drew back-to-back walks. With every base occupied, Rangers manager Bruce Bochy went to right-hander Matt Festa to face the A’s Tyler Nevin, but Mark Kotsay countered with left-hander Seth Brown. Despite the platoon advantage, Brown flied out to center field and Oakland’s fans had to withhold their cheers.
Many of Oakland’s opportunities were against Rangers starter Cody Bradford, who wasn’t sharp in the slightest. Bradford needed 90 pitches to complete just 3 2/3 innings, walking three batters and surrendering six hits. Despite the early exit and high pitch count, the A’s scored one, lone run against Bradford.
Rookie left-hander Brady Basso, making his final start in Oakland, allowed five earned runs over three innings, surrendering two homers in the process.