Vladimir Guerrero’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 12th inning lifted the Texas Rangers to a 2-1 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Thursday afternoon.
Elis Andrus finished with four hits and an RBI for the Rangers, who took two of three in the series and now hold a season-best two-game lead over the A’s in the American League West.
With one-out in the 12th, Michael Young drew a walk and Josh Hamilton singled to right to put runners at first and second. Guerrero came up and ripped a 0-1 fastball from Oakland closer Andrew Bailey (0-1) into left field to bring in the game-winning run.
Rangers reliever Dustin Nippert (2-3) picked up the win by working one inning as the sixth pitcher used by the team.
The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the third when Andrus singled to center to score Julio Borbon and extend his hitting streak to 13 games - the longest active streak in the majors.
The A’s tied the game in the fourth with a bases-loaded RBI single from Josh Donaldson, which would stand until the 12th.
Texas starter C.J. Wilson delivered another solid outing, going seven innings and allowing one run on four hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
Oakland starter Ben Sheets went six innings, surrendering one run on three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts.
Oakland | Texas | |
Ben Sheets | Player | C.J. Wilson |
No Decision | W/L | No Decision |
6.0 | IP | 7.0 |
8 | Strikeouts | 5 |
3 | Hits | 4 |
1.50 | ERA | 1.29 |
Oakland | Texas | |
Jake Fox | Player | Elvis Andrus |
3 | Hits | 4 |
0 | RBI | 1 |
0 | HR | 0 |
4 | TB | 4 |
.600 | Avg | .667 |