A's starter Ross Stripling roughed up in loss to Rangers

The Oakland A's lost to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night by a score of 6-2. The loss drops the A's to 4-8 on the year and they currently sit in 4th place in the AL West.

Starter Ross Stripling had a rough outing, going 6 innings and giving up 6 runs on 11 hits while walking 3 and striking out 5.

He gave up 3 runs on 3 hits in the bottom of the first before breezing through the 2nd and 3rd innings. He fell into trouble again in the 4th, giving up an additional 3 runs that left the A's behind 6-1.

TJ McFarland and Dany Jimenez pitched well in relief, throwing an inning apiece while allowing just one walk and one hit combined. It wasn't enough, however, as the Athletics' bats never showed up.

Rangers starter Cody Bradford shut the A's down for 6.2 innings, notching 7 strikeouts with just 1 walk. The lone run he allowed came after a throwing error by third baseman Josh Smith and was unearned.

Abraham Toro had three hits on the day, all singles. Toro was the lucky recipient of Smith's throwing error in the first and came around to score. He's up to .250/.357/.375 on the year, appearing in 9 games.

He's one of just three A's hitters with a batting average of .250 or higher to this point. JJ Bleday is hitting .277, and in his 3 games Esteury Ruiz had hit .429. Everyone else on the roster is below that mark.

Overall, the A's have hit .211 as a team, good for 27th in the league. Their .283 OBP is also 27th, while their .351 slugging percentage is good for 21st.

They've stolen just 3 bases, one of which by Ruiz who isn't in Oakland, and the team is filled with corner bats who aren't hitting well enough to warrant the playing time. Unfortunately, they do have to play the games so the A's will keep trotting out a lineup that isn't designed to compete at the highest level of the sport.

The A's will try again Thursday, taking on the Rangers in the third and final game of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 11:35 am PDT, with JP Sears set to take the mound for the A's. He'll face off against Rangers' starter Jon Gray, who has been hit hard by the Cubs and Astros both times out this year.

The A's will try to salvage a series victory and make it their second straight. If the offense shows up, they could have a chance. Sears hasn't been sharp in his two previous starts and the Rangers possess a formidable offense, but the A's held them to just 3 runs on Tuesday. We'll see if they can keep the Rangers off the board and head back to Oakland with another series win.