The A's Corral the Slumping Rangers

The 2002 A's and their stellar starting pitching dominate the good hitting 2011 Rangers team, taking two of three to move to .500 at 3-3. The 2011 Rangers team drops to 1-5, as their hitters start slowly out of the gate.

Game One: TEX 4, OAK 2 (11 innings)
Oakland stikes early, scoring two off Matt Harrison and the Rangers, courtesy of a Scott Hattieberg solo homer and a double off the wall by Eric Chavez, who scores on a sac fly. But Texas answers off Oakland starter Cory Lidle, as Mike Napoli hits his second homer and Josh Harrison has an RBI single. The 2-2 game remains that way from the sixth inning on, until the top of the 11th. In that inning, Hamilton just beats a throw home on a scratch single from Adrian Beltre for the game winner.

Game Two: OAK 5, TEX 1

Oakland's Olmedo Saenz goes deep twice.

A wild one early. After Oakland goes up 1-0 on a Jermaine Dye single in the second, Dye gets tossed in the fourth after getting hit by a pitch and charging the mound. Texas starter Alexi Ogando also gets thrown out in the ensuring melee. Oakland goes on to score four more runs, as Olmedo Saenz and David Justice both homer off Texas reliever, Meanwhile, Barry Zito is excellent for Oakland, only allowing one run and four hits in 7 innings to win his first game.

Game Three: OAK 6, TEX 4
This one isn't as close as the score indicates. Oakland's Tim Hudson (1-1) holds Texas to one run before tiring in the eighth and giving up Hamilton's third homer. Oakland C Ramon Hernandez has a nice day, going three for four and driving in three with RBI singles. CJ Wilson (0-2) again struggles for Texas, giving up four runs in five innings of work.