MLB

Texas Rangers at Oakland Athletics

· Major League Baseball
Texas Rangers
75-83, 31-46 Away
Final
5 - 1
Oakland Athletics
68-90, 37-43 Home

Langford and García homer as the Rangers beat the A's 5-1 in final scheduled night game at Coliseum

An animated crowd of 35,270 came out on a chilly late September evening, regularly chanting “Sell the team!” as a message to owner John Fisher. The A's have played in the Coliseum since 1968 and are scheduled to move to Sacramento for at least the next three seasons while waiting for a ballpark they hope to open in Las Vegas.

A tribute video to the Coliseum played on the big screen before the game, and the grounds crew has written “Thank You Oakland” into the outfield grass for the final series. Fireworks were shot off in the parking lot outside after the game as fans lingered inside as long as possible with music blaring — just not wanting to leave this one-of-a-kind old gem of a venue.

Oakland manager Mark Kotsay and wife Jamie strolled hand in hand to the outfield where he once roamed as a player for the A's, and the manager waved and tipped his cap to those still around. He hugged members of the grounds crew, snapped photos and signed autographs.

Security will be elevated for Thursday afternoon’s sold-out finale, and Kotsay didn’t feel he needed to speak publicly to fans afterward but rather let the club’s play honor the fans.

Rangers manager Bruce Bochy, the longtime skipper in San Francisco, appreciated all of the nostalgia.

“It's going to be crazy out here, sold out,” Bochy said. “And tonight, you saw the noise and the banging of the drums. This is what I'm used to coming here. It's a fun environment. I think the guys are enjoying it.”

A night earlier, the A’s won 5-4 on Jacob Wilson’s single in the ninth. Kotsay typically tears up the lineup card after each game and throws it away. After ripping this one, he thought twice about tossing it. Instead, he kept it — knowing it might the final victory in Oakland for his club.

He touched on how unique it is being part of the A's, no matter whether as a fan, player, coach, manager or ballpark employee.

“Baseball is baseball, but cities are different. Every city has its own characteristic,” Kotsay said. “Whether it's important or not isn't really the issue, it's whether you can embrace and whether you appreciate it, like everything in life. We all want to feel comfortable and I think that's what this city makes you feel, comfortable.

"The fans, even though over the last few years have had anger because of the fact that we're leaving, there's a certain comfortability to playing here. And understanding that maybe playing in front of 3,000 fans but those 3,000 fans are still showing up and still going to be passionate about the game, which makes that special.”

In another nod to Oakland, MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This” played between Texas batters in the sixth.

Texas jumped on Brady Basso (1-1), who allowed four hits and a walk before recording an out. Langford hit a two-run homer in the first, and García added a two-run drive in the third.

Basso was tagged for five runs and six hits in three innings.

Matt Festa (6-1) got the win. He pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Rangers starter Cody Bradford.

UP NEXT

Rangers RHP Kumar Rocker (0-1, 2.57 ERA) makes his third career start in the series final opposite A's RHP J.T. Ginn (0-1, 4.40 ERA).

How can I watch Texas Rangers vs. Oakland Athletics?
  • TV Channel: Rangers at Athletics 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Athletics: 52.6%
Rangers: 47.4%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Gelof lined out to left.
9th Inning Schuemann hit by pitch.
9th Inning Langeliers fouled out to third.
9th Inning Rooker struck out swinging.
9th Inning Heim struck out swinging.
9th Inning Langford flied out to left.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/tex.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originTEX https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/oak.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOAK
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 1
10 Ground Balls 12
14 Strikeouts 8
5 Runs Batted In 1
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
8 Hits 9
1 Stolen Bases 0
4 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
5 Runs 1
0 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
35 At Bats 37
2 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
13 Runners Left On Base 21
0 Triples 1
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
0 Doubles 1
11 Fly Balls 17
0 Caught Stealing 0
153 Pitches 168
0 Games Started 0
1 Pinch At Bats 3
0 Pinch Hits 1
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
14 Total Bases 12
39 Plate Appearances 41
324.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
2 Extra Base Hits 2
4.7 Runs Created 4.1
.229 Batting Average .243
.000 Pinch Hit Average .333
.400 Slugging Percentage .324
.314 Secondary Average .162
.308 On Base Percentage .317
.708 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .641
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.7
4.7 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 4.0
35.0 Batter Rating 17.5
17.5 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.92 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.10
.171 Isolated Power .081
0.29 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.38
.103 Walks Per Plate Appearance .073
.086 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.081
10.0 Runs Produced 2.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.4
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
82.0 MLB Rating 74.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Oakland Coliseum

Location: Oakland, California
Attendance: 35,270 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings