The Rangers may lead the Majors with 41 homeruns so far on this young season, but it was the one that got away that allowed the A's to beat them, 4-2, Thursday in Arlington.
With Oakland clinging to a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning, Ian Kinsler came to the plate with two men on. The Rangers' second baseman already has seven homeruns on the season, and was convinced he had just hit number eight when Ryan Sweeney jumped in--literally.
Kinsler's shot was to straight away center, where the 6-foot-4 Sweeney was waiting. He used a perfectly timed leap to reach over the fence and pull the ball back in for the final out of the inning, and the game-saving play for Oakland.
But that wasn't the only highlight of this baseball matinee. In the ninth inning Matt Holliday showed Kinsler how it's done, sending the ball a few rows back in the centerfield stands, for his first homerun as an Athletic.
Oakland starter Dallas Braden also impressed, throwing five scoreless innings, and working out of a bases loaded jam in the fifth. But Rangers reliever Eddie Guardado wasn't so lucky.
After walking in a run in the top of the seventh, Guardado was lifted from the game by manager Ron Washington, and promptly placed the blame on home plate umpire Angel Campos. The veteran reliever was ejected from the game and eventually made his way to the clubhouse, but not before throwing his arms and hat up in the air.
With the win the A's wrap up the first month of the season with an 8-11 record.
