40-25 - Rangers beat A's! Order restored if only for one night

The Rangers won a game in Oakland because they finally took the A's seriously, I guess. Now Texas is a franchise best 15 games above .500 through 65 games which is equalled only by the magical 1996 team.

Instead of picking this game apart and being mad that Martin Perez turned a 7-1 game into a 7-4 game with a taxing bottom of the 6th after he had been economic with his pitches all night, or Alex Claudio turning a 10-4 game into a 10-6 game in the bottom of the 9th which forced Matt Bush and Sam Dyson to put more pitches on their overburdened arms, let's just marvel at the fact that John Rhadigan told a story about pooping a big sandwich so he could comfortably ride a bicycle around SF for no reason during a baseball broadcast.

Still, it's hard to complain tonight because the Rangers beat the A's, won their AL-best 40th game, and raised their lead in the AL West to a season-high 5 1/2 games after the Mariners lost to the Rays earlier tonight.

Player of the Game: Robinson Chirinos hit a three-run home run to put Texas up 4-1 in the top of the 2nd and set the tone for the rest of the night. It was Chirinos' first home run since his return from a forearm fracture. I would say it's just more Rangers catcher magic but Robinson Chirinos is actually for real good. Perhaps the magic is JD acquired him for a song.

Up Next: Could the Rangers actually win consecutive games in Oakland? If they want to accomplish that impossible feat, they'll have to beat Sonny Gray but Sonny Gray has been rather beatable this year. It's the unwinnable object against the beatable force. Derek Holland will pitch for Texas. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05 pm CT.