ARLINGTON, Texas – Oakland A's right-hander Mason Miller can have established himself as one among the American League's best closers through the primary five months of the regular season.
But his September got off to a rocky start.
Josh Jung hit a three-run homer against Miller within the tenth inning to steer the Texas Rangers to a 6-4 win over the A's on Sunday.
This loss marked the second consecutive time the A's were hit by a walk-off hit, as Leody Taveras hit a game-winning single with one out within the ninth inning within the Rangers' 3-2 win over Oakland on Saturday.
Texas has won five of its six home games by walk-off since August 5.
Miller (1-2), the American League's winning pitcher on the All-Star Game in Texas this summer, managed a scoreless ninth inning and got the primary two outs within the tenth before Adolis García hit a 2-2 slider for an RBI single and Wyatt Langford got a walk after a four-pitch foul.
Then Jung hit a 101 mph fastball from Miller in the other way and just inside the best field pole for his fifth home run.
“For some reason, Langford always seems to be able to get to my fastball when it deflects,” Miller said. “And then during the at-bat (against Jung), I kind of lost the feel of my slider, which basically allowed him to eliminate that pitch and just wait for the fastball.”
Jung, who was playing in only his twenty eighth game since missing 102 games with a broken right wrist, wasn't sure the ball was gone until it landed just a couple of rows back.
“It's positive; it gets things moving in the right direction,” said Jung, who still regretted missing an RBI opportunity earlier in the sport. “I went out and started swinging too wide again, and it felt like I had corrected that just the other day. So it's great for me that I wasn't able to swing at 100 (mph) and turn it over.”
Oakland took the lead within the tenth inning against Matt Festa (3-1), who struck out his first two batters before Seth Brown hit a decisive RBI triple and Zack Gelof followed with a double.
Miller, who hadn't pitched since Wednesday, threw 34 pitches in his 1 2/3 innings because the A's finished their road trip with a 3-3 record. Their only loss in a three-game series against Cincinnati on Thursday also got here by walk-off, when TJ Friedl capped a three-run ninth inning with a two-run single within the Reds' 10-9 victory.
Miller entered Sunday with a 1-1 record this season and a 2.08 ERA in 52 innings over 44 games. His 23 saves were sixth-best within the AL.
“The last at-bat of the game is a fastball up and in. Jung got the ball with the barrel and it goes to right field,” A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “It's a tough loss. But we had the right guy on the mound and today it just didn't go the way we wanted it to.”
Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker each had 4 hits for the A's (59-78), who had runners on first and third base within the ninth inning before Shea Langeliers hit a ground ball into an inning-ending double play. Oakland had 16 hits and left 11 runners on base.
Corey Seager hit a one-out double in the primary inning for Texas (65-72) and scored on a double by García, who had scored 6 of 40 runs in his last 11 games. García hit one other double within the sixth inning when the Rangers loaded the bases without scoring.
The Rangers at the moment are 9 1/2 games out of the third and final wild card spot within the AL, but they clinched that spot and won the series against Oakland.
“They keep fighting, that's all I have to say about them,” said Bruce Bochy, who tied Bucky Harris with 2,158 wins and is eighth on the managerial win list. “When you're down two in extra innings, you've got your hands full with one of the best closers in the game.”
Squad additions
With MLB rosters expanded by two to twenty-eight players on Sunday, the A's recalled INF Tristan Gray from Triple-A Las Vegas and signed Janson Junk, who they acquired via waivers from Houston on Saturday. Texas recalled RHP Owen White and INF Jonathan Ornelas from Triple-A Round Rock.
Next
Athletics: RHP Osvaldo Bido (5-3, 3.21 ERA), who’s 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA in his last 4 starts, is scheduled to pitch in the primary home game against Seattle on Monday.
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