ARLINGTON, Texas — Daniel Mengden made the most of his five-start cameo in the A’s starting rotation.
The right-hander fired seven scoreless innings Sunday and the A’s closed the 2017 season on a high note with a 5-2 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Park. Khris Davis homered in his final at-bat, No. 43 on the season to establish a new career high as the A’s split the four-game series in Arlington.
They finished 75-87 and landed in the American League West cellar for the third consecutive season, but the A’s can feel good about a 17-7 run to close their season. They went 16-12 record in September (plus an October win in the finale) that takes them into the offseason. The 16 wins were the A’s most in a month since they went 17-9 in June of 2014.
Mengden, who had his season sidelined by a broken foot and an oblique strain, went 3-1 with 1.54 ERA over five starts since being recalled from the minors. That puts him squarely in the mix to compete for a rotation spot in spring training.
Big finish for KD
Manager Bob Melvin talked before the game about wanting to give a few players chances to reach statistical milestones. That included Davis, who came in with 42 homers, the same total as last year. In the eighth inning Sunday, he drove a pitch over the wall in left-center to cap a second consecutive outstanding season in the middle of Oakland’s lineup. Davis finished with 43 homers to go with 110 RBI, also a career high.
Doubling his fun
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Jed Lowrie, who set the A’s single-season doubles record earlier this season, regieseterd another two-bagger Sunday to give him 49, leaving him one shy of the 50 that he hoped to reach. Still, Lowrie capped off a very nice season, hitting .277 with 14 homers and 69 RBI.
