Instant Replay: Surkamp knocked out early, Rangers rough up A's

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OAKLAND — Eric Surkamp’s ping-pong itinerary between Triple-A and the majors continued Tuesday, as did his struggles against big league hitters.

The left-hander got tagged for two homers and seven runs in just 2 1/3 innings, and that dug a hole the A’s couldn’t climb out of in their 10-6 loss to the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum.

Surkamp is in his fourth stint with the big club this season. In seven starts, he’s accumulated an 8.07 ERA and has only completed five innings once. He was starting Tuesday in place of Jesse Hahn, who was demoted to the minors following his last start. But it seems doubtful the A’s will stick with Surkamp the next time his turn comes around Sunday.

Injuries and ineffectiveness are taking a lasting toll on the A’s starting staff. Oakland began the day having received the fewest innings from its starters in the majors (334 1/3). The rotation was tied for the most losses (30) and had the third highest ERA (5.20). Surkamp’s outing marked their major league-high 22nd start of fewer than five innings.

It was unfortunate for the A’s in that their offense, for the third straight day, was game for a competitive battle. The A’s notched 11 hits and rallied for three runs in the sixth to pull to within 7-4, but their bullpen couldn’t hold down the Rangers.

Starting pitching report:
Surkamp is 3-1 with a 3.07 ERA in five Triple-A starts this season, but he simply hasn’t been able to carry that success over against major league lineups. He’s issued 17 walks and struck out just 15 in 29 innings over his seven starts with Oakland. And in two of his past three starts in the bigs, he hasn’t made it through three full innings. It was a 1-1 game in the second when Surkamp served up a three-run homer to Rangers No. 9 hitter Robinson Chirinos on an 0-2 pitch. An inning later, Ryan Rua connected for a solo shot off the stairs beyond the left field wall. Surkamp (0-4) wouldn’t make it out of the third, as Texas scored three times to take a 7-1 lead.

Bullpen report:
Marc Rzepczynski relieved Surkamp in the third and issued a bases-loaded walk among the three walks he allowed in 1 2/3 innings. Ryan Dull struck out three in two scoreless innings. But Daniel Coulombe and Zach Neal allowed a combined three runs over the final two innings as the Rangers padded their lead.

At the plate:
Khris Davis and Yonder Alonso each had two RBI to pace the offense. The A’s scored a run to tie the game in the bottom of the first but could have made more of that opportunity. Davis’ double to the right field corner scored Billy Burns but Jed Lowrie was easily thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on the play. The A’s got to Martin Perez (6-4) for three hits in that inning — Danny Valencia lined out to third and Billy Butler flied out to the wall in center — but the A’s could only push across the one run.

Catcher Josh Phegley left the game in the ninth after being hit by a pitch on the left knee by Rangers reliever Alex Claudio.

In the field:
A’s third baseman Danny Valencia was charged with the game’s only error on a ragged play, as Elvis Andrus singled to left to score a run and the A’s fired the ball around the infield in a failed attempt to get runners at both third and second.

Attendance:
A crowd of 13,101 was on hand for the A’s second annual Pride Night.

Up next:
Sonny Gray (3-6, 5.34) is mired in a five-game losing streak, but the Rangers tend to bring out the best in him. He has a 1.92 ERA in 10 career starts against Texas, and he takes the ball in Wednesday’s 7:05 p.m. game. Lefty Derek Holland (5-5, 4.87) goes for the Rangers.

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