Shea Langeliers powers Athletics past Rangers with 3-homer night

Shea Langeliers led the Oakland Athletics to a 4-3 victory against the Texas Rangers on Tuesday night, hitting 3 home runs and driving in all 4 of the A's runs on the night.

The Rangers took the lead in the bottom of the first but Langeliers tied it up with a solo homer in the second off starter Nathan Eovaldi.

The A's were trailing again, this time 2-1 when Langeliers came up in the seventh. He took reliever David Robertson deep to center field to tie the game at two.

The Rangers took the lead once more, scoring in the bottom of the seventh. But Langeliers came to the plate again in the ninth after outfielder Seth Brown drew a walk,. Langeliers capitalized again, this time off Rangers' closer Jose Leclerc, giving the A's a 4-3 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

A's top prospect Mason Miller came in for the bottom of the ninth and put the Rangers away, getting Ezequiel Duran, Jared Walsh, and Evan Carter in order.

Can the A's keep the winning streak alive?

The win is the third in a row for the A's, who had entered last weekend's series in Detroit at 1-6. They now sit 4-6, no longer last in the AL West. They've started to whittle away at the dismal run differential which currently sits at -19. It's still not a good number but it's no longer horrific like it was a week ago.

It's premature to suggest that the A's have turned anything around. They've had a decent stretch of games in the past several days but the next two against the reigning World Series champs will be challenging.

Tomorrow's evening affair will have A's righty Ross Stripling facing off against Rangers' lefty Cody Bradford.

Bradford enters the game with a 2.13 ERA through 12.2 innings. He shut down the Cubs and Astros in his first two starts, two teams that were projected to win their respective divisions.

Ross Stripling has been one of the lone bright spots on a struggling A's pitching staff. He's thrown 12 innings between his first two starts, collecting 9 strikeouts and just 2 walks, with 5 earned runs allowed, good for a 3.52 ERA.

The A's will need him to be on his game tomorrow, as the Rangers still have the 5th highest runs per game figure in the league. The A's staff was able to keep the Rangers' bats quiet on Tuesday. We'll see if they're able to do so for the rest of the series.