The margin for error eventually ran out for Ross Detwiler, and it was no surprise who made him pay the price.
Adrian Beltre belted a fifth-inning grand slam that erased Oakland’s lead and single-handedly doomed the A’s in a 5-2 loss to the Rangers on Monday at Globe Life Park.
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Detwiler, coming off a career-best start in his A’s debut, held Texas to one run over the first four innings before Beltre dealt yet another damaging blow to the A’s. On Oakland’s last trip in to Arlington, he hit a walk-off homer off Ryan Madson that accounted for the Rangers’ only win in that three-game series. This time, he launched a 2-1 pitch from Detwiler over the wall in left to turn a 2-1 A’s lead into a 5-2 deficit.
Beltre has made a living terrorizing the A’s, with 36 home runs and 125 RBI in 193 career games against them. Since 2010, no major leaguer has hit more homers against Oakland than Beltre (27).
Until that ill-fated pitch, Detwiler was having a decent night against his former team. The left-hander was acquired by the Rangers before the 2015 season and began that campaign in Texas’ starting rotation. He eventually moved to the bullpen and was released in July 2015. He hooked on with Cleveland before this season and was traded to the A’s in mid-July. Now, with Sonny Gray and Jesse Hahn both on the 15-day disabled list, he’s getting a shot in the A’s injury-depleted rotation.
For the AL West-leading Rangers, Beltre’s grand slam woke them up offensively. Before scratching out a run in the fourth, Texas had gone 24 consecutive innings without scoring a run.
Oakland Athletics
The A’s, opening up a six-game road trip, lost for the 12th time in the past 17 games.
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Starting pitching report:
Detwiler (1-1) found himself in a dicey situation in the second with the bases loaded and one out, but he induced a 6-4-3 double play from Jurickson Profar to escape that threat. Another 6-4-3 grounder ended the third, and he limited the damage to one run in the fourth with help from some good defense behind him. But it caught to him in the fifth. It was a bad omen when he hit Shin-Soo Choo with an 0-2 pitch in the left forearm to put he first runner aboard with one out. Singles from Ian Desmond and Carlos Beltran loaded the bases. Then Detwiler got squeezed on back-to-back close pitches to fall behind Beltre 2-0. After a called strike, Detwiler piped a 93 mile-per-hour fastball, and Beltre connected for his 10th career grand slam. That homer made him a .433 hitter against the A’s this season.
X-rays wound up revealing a broken forearm for Choo, who is headed back to the disabled list after appearing in just 12 games since his last stint on the DL.
Bullpen report:
Liam Hendriks, John Axford and Marc Rzepczynski finished this one out without incident in relief of Detwiler.
At the plate:
The A’s broke through with two runs off Martin Perez (8-8) in the first two innings but were held quiet beyond that. Marcus Semien reached on a throwing error by Beltre to lead off the game, an he eventually scored on a two-out single from Billy Butler. Then rookie Ryon Healy led off the second with a homer deep to left-center, his sixth homer in his first 29 games with the club. Butler also continues to produce. He entered the night hitting .452 (19-for-42 over his past 12 games and has driven in eight runs over his past 13.
In the field:
After a critical mistake led to a run in Sunday’s loss to Seattle, second baseman Tyler Ladendorf rebounded with a fine defensive game. He made a difficult turn at the bag on Profar’s double-play grounder with the bases loaded in the second. In the fourth, he leapt high to snare Rougned Odor’s liner with two men on. Later in that inning, he scooped a throw in the dirt from Healy to get a force-out at second and help limit the Rangers to one run in that inning.
Attendance:
22,845
Up next:
Andrew Triggs (0-1, 5.50) makes his second start since injuries forced him into the rotation. He’ll match up against right-hander Lucas Harrell (1-0, 5.74) on Tuesday at 5:05 p.m.