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 batter Taveras grounded a single through the middle and past a drawn-in infield, sending pinch-runner Ezequiel Duran home with the winning run.
“Didn’t hit the ball hard there 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 the side after coming on in the eighth, hit Nathaniel Lowe with a pitch to start the ninth. Carson Kelly reached on a bloop single that dropped between second baseman Zack Gelof and right fielder Lawrence Butler, before Duran replaced Lowe on second base. Travis Jankowski drew a four-pitch walk with one out.
“Hit batter got some momentum for them, and the blooper into right field, that’s a tough play … landed right in the middle of them,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “Bad luck in the ninth inning.”
All-Star closer Kirby Yates (6-2) worked around a single and a walk in a scoreless ninth.
The reigning World Series champion Rangers (64-71), who led the American League with 5.43 runs per game last year, were held to four or fewer for the sixth game in a row and the 12th time in their previous 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 homer was a two-run shot in the second inning that put Texas up 2-0.
Butler became Oakland’s fourth player with 20 homers this season when he lined a ball with an exit velocity of more than 112 mph and cleared the 8-foot high wall in right field in the fourth. The A’s tied the game in the sixth after back-to-back doubles by Butler and Brent Rooker, who homered twice in the series opener Friday night.
The A’s have gone deep 16 times in their last five games, accounting for 24 of their 34 runs on this road trip. They have scored an MLB-high 50.9% of their runs (283 of 556) via homers.
Texas lefty Cody Bradford tied his career high with eight strikeouts over seven innings, while Oakland rookie right-hander Joey Estes struck out seven in six innings. Both starters allowed two runs, and neither walked a batter.
“Another great start. He’s such a great competitor,” Bochy said of Bradford. “Talk about it so many times, how prepared he is. Great focus out there and pitched another great ballgame for us.”
INJURY NEWS: Kotsay said before Saturday’s game that outfielder Esteury Ruiz, who had been bothered by a left wrist strain in recent months, is done for the season.
Ruiz, who had a breakout season for the A’s in 2023 with an American League-leading 67 stolen bases in 132 games, only played in 29 games for Oakland this year. He was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on April 1 and recalled two weeks later before he began to have wrist trouble in late May, landing him on the injured list.
Ruiz, 25, played in five rehab games in the minors in July before he was shut down from 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 (stress reaction in left wrist) and Austin Adams (right forearm tendinitis) will likely not be able to return this season based on their rehab progression.
Soderstrom, 22, hasn’t played for the A’s since July 9 but was making progress, with the idea that the team would not rush him back. Adams’ last appearance came on Aug. 13. Adams, 33, has one more year of arbitration before he becomes a free agent in 2026.
ALEXANDER UPDATE: Veteran left-hander Scott Alexander (left rotator cuff tendonitis) felt good after a bullpen session and is slated to face hitters on Monday when the A’s return to the Coliseum. Kotsay said Alexander and the team would then decide whether he needed to begin a rehab assignment.
“He’s obviously has been around the league for a while, knows how he wants to feel before he comes back,” Kotsay said of Alexander. “So we’ll do that on Monday and then assess where we’re at.”
The 35-year-old Alexander, a Santa Rosa native now in his 10th MLB season, 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 with San Francisco, Alexander is 1-2 with a 2.51 ERA in 28 2/3 innings over 34 games.
ROSTER MOVES: Infielder Tristan Gray and right-hander Janson Junk, both recent waiver claims by the A’s, are joining the team in Texas, per MLB.com. They will be added when rosters expand Sunday.
