A’s Offense Bring ‘A-Game’ In 14-5 Home Rout Of Rangers

Khris Davis homered and drove in five runs, Marcus Semien and Jake Smolinski each had three hits and the Oakland Athletics routed the Texas Rangers 14-5 at the O.co Coliseum on Monday night, just hours after the Rangers placed Yu Darvish on the disabled list.

A’s Offense Bring ‘A-Game’ In 14-5 Home Rout Of Rangers

The A’s snapped a seven-game losing streak by defeating the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 on Sunday, then beat a Texas team that had won eight of its last 10 games.

However, their victory on Monday came at a cost. Sean Manaea, a left-hander acquired last year from the Kansas City Royals in a trade for Ben Zobrist, left after 4 1/3 innings with a strained left forearm. He will have an MRI on Tuesday.

“My first thought was, it’s pretty scary because I hear forearm stuff all the time and the `TJ’ (Tommy John), that word, I don’t like to think about it,” Manaea said. “But (A’s trainer Nick Paparesta) told me it’s nothing too serious. Hopefully it’s nothing bad. (A team doctor) took a look at my ligament and said it was good as far as he could tell. I’m just hoping the MRI says the same.”

Manaea expressed having felt similar discomfort earlier this season, including as recently as during a bullpen session over the weekend in Cincinnati, but not as severe as it was Monday.

Oakland manager Bob Melvin stated he was concerned when he noticed the lefty’s speed dropped heading into the fifth.

“At some point, you’re trying to distinguish changeup speeds and his fastball and it’s time to go out there and check,” Melvin said. “I could see during the inning the velocity wasn’t quite there.”

Manaea struck out four batters and allowed two runs on four hits.

Rangers outfielder Shin-Soo Choo homered off Manaea in his first game back from the disabled list after a hamstring injury.

Davis blasted his 15th homer of the season off Cesar Ramos (1-3), who started in place of Darvish after the latter went on the DL before the game with tightness in his neck and shoulder. Ramos allowed eight runs (six earned) on eight hits in 3 2/3 innings, and also walked five. Darvish has made three starts since returning from Tommy John surgery.

“(Ramos) was pressed into duty, got ground balls but they went for hits,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “He kept falling behind and it’s a challenge to pitch when you fall behind like that. We wanted to get some innings out of him but it didn’t work out the way he wanted.”

Rangers reliever Tom Wilhelmsen also allowed six runs in one-plus inning, as Oakland sent 26 players to the plate in innings three through five.

A’s left-hander Daniel Coulombe (1-0) allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings. Catcher Josh Phegley also added a three-run homer for the A’s, his first. Right-hander Zach Neal allowed one run on two hits over three innings for his first save.

The two teams will next face off again at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland Tuesday night. Left-hander Martin Perez (5-4, 3.22 ERA) will start for the Rangers (39-25, 1st in AL West) in the second of a four-game series against the A’s (27-36, 4th in AL West), who will recall left-hander Eric Surkamp from the minor leagues for the fourth time this year. Surkamp is 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA in seven starts.

PHOTO: OAKLAND, CA – JUNE 13: Marcus Semien #10 of the Oakland Athletics scores on a Danny Valencia #26 RBI single against the Texas Rangers in the fourth inning at O.co Coliseum on June 13, 2016 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Robert Reiners/Getty Images)

Article by Pablo Mena