ARLINGTON, Texas _ The way the A's starting rotation is going right now, each member seems to want to keep the line moving. Andrew Triggs made sure not to fall behind.
Triggs continued what has been a strong showing by A's starters lately, allowing just one run on four hits with a walk and six strikeouts over six innings of work in Tuesday's 3-2 victory over the Rangers, their fourth win in a row. It's the sixth time in the past nine games an A's starter has allowed one run or less.
Triggs improved to 2-0 on the season with a 4.70 ERA.
The A's have now won eight of their last nine games, and Tuesday's win guaranteed them their third consecutive series victory.
The only trouble Triggs really found himself in came in the sixth. After the A's (13-11) had taken the lead in the top half on Mark Canha's solo home run to right off Cole Hamels, Triggs loaded the bases with just one out, bringing Adrian Beltre to the plate.
Looking like he was on the ropes, Triggs allowed the Rangers (8-17) to tie the game on a sacrifice fly to right by Beltre, but he finished off the inning and his outing by retiring Joey Gallo on a ground out to limit the damage to just the one run.
The A's quickly took the lead back in the seventh after Jed Lowrie doubled home Marcus Semien. Matt Olson added another run in the seventh, with a double off the left field wall that enabled Matt Chapman to score from first.
Manager Bob Melvin went to closer Blake Treinen with one out in the eighth looking for the five-out save. But Treinen took a liner to the right leg from Shin-Soo Choo and immediately left the game after limping around the infield a bit as he was checked on by the A's training staff.
With Choo reaching base on the play, rookie Lou Trivino took over for Treinen after getting called back up to the majors earlier in the day. Though he surrendered a run on a single to Beltre, Trivino recovered by striking out slugger Joey Gallo to keep the A's ahead 3-2 heading into the ninth.
Santiago Casilla got the call in the ninth inning. Despite entering the night with a 9.53 ERA in 27 games against Texas, Casilla silenced Rangers bats with a quick 1-2-3 ninth to earn his first save of the season.
It was the A's 11th victory when scoring first, tying the Astros, Yankees, and Angels for most in the American League.
