ARLINGTON, Texas — Leody Taveras hit a game-ending single with one out in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 3-2 on Saturday night.
The bases were loaded when No. 9 hitter Taveras singled up the middle and beyond a tight infield, sending pinch runner Ezequiel Duran home with the winning run.
“We didn’t hit the ball hard at that point in the ninth, but we put it in play, and you saw what happened,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said.
Athletics reliever Tyler Ferguson (2-2), who struck out all three batters after entering the eighth inning, hit Nathaniel Lowe with a pitch to lead off the ninth. Carson Kelly reached base on a bloop single that fell between second baseman Zack Gelof and right fielder Lawrence Butler before Duran replaced Lowe at second base. Travis Jankowski drew a four-pitch walk with one out.
“The hit batter gave the team a little momentum, and the miss in right field, that’s a tough play … landed right in the middle of them,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “No luck in the ninth inning.”
All-Star reliever Kirby Yates (6-2) singled and walked in a scoreless ninth inning.
The defending World Series champion Rangers (64-71), who led the American League with 5.43 runs per game last year, were held to four runs or fewer for the sixth straight game and the 12th time in their last 15 games. They are 23-16 in one-run games and have won their last six games decided by a single run.
Jonah Heim’s 12th home run was a two-run shot in the second inning that gave Texas a 2-0 lead.
Butler became the fourth Oakland player to hit 20 home runs this season when he hit a ball with an exit velocity of more than 112 mph over the 8-foot-high right-field wall in the fourth inning. The A’s tied the game in the sixth inning on back-to-back doubles by Butler and Brent Rooker, who hit two home runs in the series opener Friday night.
The A’s have scored 16 times in their last five games, accounting for 24 of their 34 runs on this trip. They have scored an MLB-best 50.9 percent of their runs (283 of 556) on home runs.
Texas left-hander Cody Bradford tied his career high with eight strikeouts in seven innings, while Oakland rookie right-hander Joey Estes struck out seven batters in six innings. Both starters allowed two runs, and neither walked a batter.
“Another great start. He’s a really good competitor,” Bochy said of Bradford. “We talk about him so much, how prepared he is. He was very focused on the field and pitched another great game for us.”
INJURY NEWS: Kotsay said before Saturday’s game that outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who has been dealing with a sprained left wrist for several months, is out for the season.
Ruiz, who had a breakout season with the A’s in 2023 with an AL-high 67 stolen bases in 132 games, has played just 29 games for Oakland this year. He was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas on April 1 and recalled two weeks later before he began having wrist issues in late May, landing him on the injured list.
Ruiz, 25, played five minor league rehab games in July before being ruled out of all baseball activities. He finished the season with a .200 batting average, two home runs and five stolen bases.
Kotsay also told MLB.com that first baseman Tyler Soderstrom (left wrist stress reaction) and Austin Adams (right forearm tendinitis) likely won’t be able to return this season due to the progress of their rehabs.
Soderstrom, 22, hasn’t played for the A’s since July 9, but he’s made progress, with the team hoping not to rush him back. Adams last appeared on Aug. 13. Adams, 33, has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent in 2026.
UPDATE FROM ALEXANDER: Veteran left-hander Scott Alexander (left rotator cuff tendinitis) felt good after a workout and is expected to face hitters Monday when the A’s return to the Coliseum. Kotsay said Alexander and the team will then decide whether he should begin rehab.
“He’s obviously been in the league for a while, he knows how he wants to feel before he comes back,” Kotsay said of Alexander. “So we’ll do that on Monday and then evaluate where we’re at.”
Alexander, 35, a Santa Rosa native, is in his 10th MLB season. He hasn’t pitched since Aug. 17, when the A’s beat the Giants 2-0. Signed by the A’s in February after spending the previous two years in San Francisco, Alexander is 1-2 with a 2.51 ERA in 28 2/3 innings over 34 games.
LIST EVOLUTION: Infielder Tristan Gray and right-hander Janson Junk, both recently claimed off waivers by the A’s, are joining the Texas team, according to MLB.com. They will be added when the roster expands Sunday.
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