Athletics:  4  Rangers:  3

The A’s offense was pretty quiet today until the bottom of the 7th inning.  Colby Lewis held them to 1 run on 3 hits through the first 5 innings, his only mistake was allowing a solo home run to Brandon Inge in the 5th.

Going into the 7th the Rangers were up 3-1, but a 2-run double by Josh Reddick tied the game.  The bottom of the ninth Brandon Hicks, who came in the game to substitute for Cliff Pennington, lead off the ninth, and on a 1-1 count hit his first major league home run and won the game for the A’s.

Lines of the Day:

• Josh Reddick: 4 AB, 2 H, 2 RBI.  Reddick was one of the 2 players to have a multi-hit game for the A’s today.  He had a single in the 4th inning and the game tying double in the 7th.
• Brandon Inge:  4 AB, 2 H, 1 RBI.  Inge had a productive day, his two hits coming in the form as a solo home run and a double.

Ugly Lines of the Day:

• A’s offense: 31 AB, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 3 SO.  There has definitely been worse days as far as the offense is concerned, but the A’s were 1-10 today with runners and scoring position and they left 8 runners on.

A’s Extras:

• Travis Blackey pitched in his first game today since July 1st, he went 5.1 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.
• Ryan Cook was credited with today’s win.  He pitched a clean inning in the 9th, he allowed a hit and a walk and struck out 1.
• Coco Crisp returned to the lineup today, he went 1-3 with 1 walk and 2 stolen bases.
• Yoenis Cespedes returned to the outfield today after DH’ing in the previous 4 games.  He went 1-3 today.
• Brandon McCarthy threw a 25 pitch bullpen session today with no problems.  There is still no timetable for his return.
• Today’s walk-off makes 9 for the A’s this season, which leads the majors.

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