OAKLAND, Calif. _ One swing of the bat from Jed Lowrie did more than just give the Oakland A's the lead. It released the frustration built up by A's hitters over the past three games.
In each game of their recent three-game losing streak, the A's were unable to come through in clutch situations late in the game that could have either tied it up or given them the lead. Lowrie snapped the streak and changed that narrative in Monday's 3-1 victory over the Texas Rangers in front of a sparse crowd of just 7,416 fans at the Coliseum.
Lowrie smashed a two-out, two-run double off Jake Diekman that brought home Jonathan Lucroy and Marcus Semien in the seventh inning. It put the A's ahead 3-1 and gave them the hit that had been eluding them over the past few games.
Making life difficult for A's hitters through the first six innings was an old friend in Bartolo Colon.
The former A's pitcher continued to perform like an ageless wonder. Colon, 44, managed to allow just one run on seven hits over six innings of work.
A's manager Bob Melvin praised Colon for his ability to reinvent himself in order to last so long. Colon enters his 21st season in the big leagues.
"He's a marvel," Melvin said before the game. "He continues to do what he's always done, maybe at a little lower velocity now and mixing his pitches up a little more than he has in the past. It's not 90 percent heaters now, maybe more like 75. But it's worked for him for quite a while and it seems like it's continuing to."
Matt Chapman took Colon deep in the third inning with a solo shot that sailed over the right field wall to give the A's an early 1-0 lead. It was his second home run of the season and second in as many games.
Blake Treinen recorded the last five outs of the game to earn his first save of the season.
