ARLINGTON, Texas _ The A's bullpen is finding Globe Life Park to be a scary place to pitch after the A's relievers were racked for four more runs in a 6-5 Texas win Saturday.
Just 24 hours after the Rangers beat up Santiago Casilla for four runs in the ninth inning to escape with a 5-2 win Friday, Texas came back Saturday to batter Ryan Dull and Liam Hendriks for four more runs in the seventh as the A's let a late 4-2 lead escape.
Elvis Andrus tied the game with a two-run single and Nomar Mazara followed with a two-run double, and the closest the A's would come after that would be when Yonder Alonso's career-high 12th homer cut the deficit to one run at 6-5.
Oakland has played five games in Globe Life Park this season and has seen its bullpen racked for 12 runs in 14 innings, one reason the A's are 1-4 in Texas this season. Of course the problem exists elsewhere, too, with the A's bullpen 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA collectively this season.
In so doing, the A's not only denied starter Sonny Gray his first win of the year but fell alone into last place in the American League West, nine games behind Houston with a 16-20 record. This makes for the second day this year Oakland has been alone in last place.
Gray threw six innings and 106 pitches, allowing two runs before turning the game over to the bullpen with a 4-2 lead. In making just his third start since coming off the disabled list with a shoulder injury that cost him the first month of the season, Gray fell behind in the third inning on an RBI single from Andrus.
An inning later, with the game tied at 1-all, Carlos Gomez's infield out pushed the Rangers into a 2-1 lead.
Oakland quickly rallied to put Gray on the right side of the ledger. The A's came into the game with a .203 average with runners in scoring position, the worst mark in the majors and had just two hits with runners in scoring position over the course of their previous four games.
That ended in the fourth inning with an Alonso RBI single, and an inning later Matt Joyce singled home two runs, moving the A's from a 2-1 deficit to a 3-2 lead at the time against Texas starter Nick Martinez.
Oakland added a run off the Rangers' bullpen in the seventh on an RBI hit by Adam Rosales.
But then the bullpen came in and for the second consecutive game was rocked. Casilla blew a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning Friday thanks mostly to a three-run homer from Joey Gallo. On Saturday, Ryan Dull walked two and allowed a single, loading the bases with one out and Oakland holding a 4-2 lead.
Liam Hendriks, who came into the game with nine consecutive games without allowing a run, suddenly proved mortal. Andrus tied the game with a two-run single before Mazara lined a double over the head of Khris Davis for two more runs and a 6-4 Texas lead.
Alonso's 12th homer came with two out in the top of the eighth. It was his eighth homer of the month.
