ARLINGTON, Texas _ The A's squandered multiple opportunities to take control throughout the night, but the final inning showed just how explosive this offense can be.
Entering the ninth inning 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position, the A's unleashed that pent up frustration from earlier by putting together a six-run ninth inning to turn what was a close game for most of the night into a 9-3 blowout victory over the Rangers. It was their third straight win, and at 12-11, the A's are now over .500 after 20 games for the first time since April 30, 2016.
Marcus Semien led off the ninth inning by obliterating a first-pitch fastball from Kevin Jepsen well up the left field bleachers at Globe Life Park for the tie-breaking home run to put the A's ahead 4-3. Looking like Semien's homer was all they would get in the inning, the A's put together perhaps their most impressive two-out rally of the season.
Matt Chapman's triple to bring home Jed Lowrie was shortly followed up by RBI singles by Mark Canha and Jonathan Lucroy, and a two-run triple by Jake Smolinski. The inning finally ended with Semien grounding out to short as the A's managed to bat around the order.
Semien's blast was his third of the season and second in the past three games. Chapman, who entered the night batting .423 in 14 career games against Texas, continued that success by picking up his 10th career RBI against the club.
Trevor Cahill was solid in his second start back with the A's, allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts over five innings of work. His only real mistake came on a two-run homer surrendered to Robinson Chirinos in the fourth, but the Rangers got him out of the game early by making him throw 98 pitches through five.
With Cahill departing the game tied at 3, it was up to the bullpen to keep the offense in the game long enough for the outburst, and it delivered.
Yusmeiro Petit, Ryan Dull, Ryan Buchter, and Chris Hatcher combined to allow just one run on two hits over the final four innings of the game, with the only run coming in the ninth after the A's had already built up the large lead.
Khris Davis got the scoring started for the A's in the third by lining a double down the left field line off Matt Moore that rolled to the wall, bringing home both Marcus Semien and Stephen Piscotty.
After the Rangers got a run back in the bottom half, the A's responded right back in the fourth. Mark Canha led off with a double to left and scored on a single to right by Chad Pinder to extend the lead to 3-1.
