Rangers 12, Athletics 4
ARLINGTON, Texas - Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre hit two home runs and drove in five as the Rangers pounded Oakland 12-4 on Sunday.
The win kept the Rangers 1 1/2 games behind Houston in the American League West with the Astros beginning a four-game series in Arlington Monday. The loss clinched a losing record for Oakland (61-82) for the first time since 2011.
Beltre, who entered the game in a 5-for-38 slide, drilled a two-run homer off Oakland starter Felix Doubront (3-2) in the fourth inning that put Texas up 3-0. An inning later he got to Doubront again, clubbing a three-run homer to right center as part of a five-run fifth for the Rangers that put them up 8-0.
It was Beltre's first two-run homer game of the season and the five RBI were also a season high.
The big inning made a winner out of rookie right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez (3-5), who allowed three runs (one earned) in his 5 1/3 innings of work. Gonzalez allowed two hits, struck out two and walked three.
Texas took the lead on a homer from right fielder Shin-Soo Choo in the first.
The Rangers had 12 hits, with Choo going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI. Second baseman Rougned Odor capped the Texas scoring with a three-run homer in the eighth.
Oakland got on the board with three runs in the sixth inning. Third baseman Danny Valencia had a two-run triple and designated hitter Billy Butler a run-scoring single. Catcher Carson Blair homered in the seventh for his first major-league hit.
NOTES: Texas put Mike Napoli in the starting lineup in left field on Sunday. It marked the first time in his professional career that Napoli started a game in the outfield. ... Right hamstring tightness kept Oakland OF Billy Burns out of the lineup for a third consecutive game. There's a chance he'll play again Tuesday in Chicago. ... The Rangers have started six different players in left field in the last nine games. ... Texas C Robinson Chirinos still has soreness in his left shoulder after injuring a biceps tendon while taking a foul ball off the shoulder last Wednesday. He hopes to resume throwing in the next few days. ... Saturday night's win over Texas clinched the season series for Oakland. The A's have now won the season series against the Rangers three of the last four years.