Rangers rally to beat A's, gain 2nd in AL West

ARLINGTON — Hank Blalock hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 6-4 Tuesday night to move back into second place in the American League West.

Texas snapped its five-game losing streak. The A's beat the Rangers on Monday to move into second place for the first time since July 25.

Jamey Wright (8-7) allowed Cliff Pennington's RBI grounder that gave Oakland a 4-3 lead in the seventh.

Oakland reliever Alan Embree (2-5) retired the first two batters in the bottom half of the inning. Milton Bradley, who had three hits, singled and stole second base. Marlon Byrd singled to score Bradley and tie the game.

That set the stage for Blalock, who sent the game into extra innings Monday with a home run. The Rangers first baseman lined a 1-2 pitch into the right-field seats to put Texas on top 6-4.

Blalock homered for the third straight game and is on a late-season surge, going 14-for-30 with nine RBIs over the last nine games.

Jack Cust and Travis Buck each homered for Oakland, which had won four in a row and eight of nine.

Rangers starter Dustin Nippert allowed four runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings. The A's loaded the bases on Nippert with one out before Wright came into the game.

Frank Francisco pitched a perfect ninth to earn his fifth save in 11 chances.

Rookie Oakland starter Josh Outman, who beat Texas on Sept. 13 for his only career win, gave up three runs in six innings. The left-hander walked one and struck out four in his third big league start.

Cust hit his 31st homer, which landed about six rows into the upper deck in right field, leading off the second.

After the Rangers tied it on Travis Metcalf's sacrifice fly, Buck hit a two-run shot in the third.

Bradley's RBI single cut Oakland's lead to 3-2, and Byrd hit a bloop single to tie the game at 3.

Notes:@ The A's struck out six times, extending their club record to 1,189 this season. Only 28 teams in history have struck out at least 1,200 times. ... Francisco has pitched 11 2-3 scoreless innings over 12 appearances dating back to Aug. 22.

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