Oakland Athletics avoid sweep as Jemile Weeks powers club to 4-3 victory over Texas Rangers
Jemile Weeks had not hit a home-run all season when he went up against the Texas Rangers on Thursday, September 22 at the Oakland Coliseum. The second baseman made his outing count as he lunged at Colby Lewis for two important runs. The Oakland in-fielder
smashed his first homer of the season and ran home from an RBI single off Josh Willingham’s bat.
Lewis picked up a no decision as he gave up just three runs from four hits, two walks and 6.1 innings. The regular player had Trevor Cahill to compete against and he made his case as he equalled the hurler’s stance in the game.
Oakland’s starter, Cahill pitched 6.2 innings, conceding three runs from 10 hits and a ball. Nevertheless, he could not pick up the win as the A’s won 4-3 late in the day. Grant Balfour, who earned a loss in the previous night, picked up the important win.
The day began with the Oakland A’s getting the upper hand in the bottom of the first. Willingham drove in Weeks for his first run of the game. At 1-0, the Texas Rangers replied with Michael Young, as the designated hitter ran home, clear from danger after
Adrian Beltre smashed a double in the top of the second.
Beltre later made it 2-1 for the Rangers as he scored on a sacrifice fly from Nelson Cruz.
With the score 2-1, the Rangers extended their lead this time in the top of the sixth. David Murphy produced an RBI single that saw Josh Hamilton run home with the second run for the visitors. The A’s were not the favourites in the game but Weeks wanted
to establish an important note on Thursday as he went up against Lewis in the bottom of the sixth to smash a screaming homer to right-field.
With the A’s back in the game, things were looking even. That was the case as Lewis faltered in the top of the eighth. The hurler managed to put David DeJesus on third base, while Cliff Pennington hung around at second baseman. Rangers’ manager Ron Washington
was not up to the task of taking a risk. He relieved Colby Lewis and brought in Darren Oliver.
The change did not make a difference as DeJesus ran home on a Scott Sizemore ground out. With the score 3-3, it now rested on one team to pick the winner. Fortunately for the A’s, they avoided a potential clean sweep when Weeks scored the third run of the
game. He was led home in the eighth by Coco Crisp who managed to drive the ball to David Murphy in right-field, for an RBI single.
The game ended on 4-3 and the Texans lost their chance to cut their magic number to one. The Los Angeles Angels lost their encounter recently and they provided the Rangers to cut their chase for the post-season qualification by two wins. At the moment, that
number sits on two and it can be availed before the Texans head to Anaheim for their final series.
The Oakland A’s however have a lot to build on. With just a few more days of play left, they will be looking to reach some normal standard of performance in the American League West.
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