Beltre's 10th career slam lifts Texas over A's

Beltre's 10th career slam lifts Texas over A's

August 16th, 2016

ARLINGTON -- The Rangers snapped a 24-inning scoreless streak on Monday night, hit his first grand slam in five years and they lost for the season -- all in a 5-2 victory over the Athletics at Globe Life Park. Texas is the first American League club to 70 wins this season.
also set a club record for inducing double plays during his seven innings, as the Rangers defeated former teammate , making his second start for the Athletics. Detwiler allowed five runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, exiting the game after giving up the slam. It was Beltre's 19th homer of the season and his 10th career grand slam.
"Obviously, we've been able to create situations in the last couple days but we haven't been able to come through," Beltre said. "We know the lineup we have is deep enough to get out of [a slump] quick. ... I was lucky enough to get a pitch to hit and hit it deep enough to left-center field.
Grand slams mean 40% off pizza
The A's opened the scoring with an RBI single from in the first and a solo home run from to lead off the second. That was all they were able to score off Perez. He allowed the two runs, one earned, on five hits with six strikeouts to pick up his first victory in nine starts. picked up his 27th save of the year.
broke the Rangers' scoreless drought with a single to right field in the fourth that drove in , who had led off the inning with a single. The Rangers had been shut out in back-to-back games and hadn't scored a run since the fifth inning in their win over the Tigers on Friday.
"More than anything tonight, it was our ability to push the line along, not chase anything and get to a point where we have the big man up in the right spot," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. "It was another chance for Beltre to come up huge in a big spot."

INJURY REPORT
Choo fractured his left forearm after being hit by a 92-mph fastball by Detwiler in the fifth inning and will be making his fourth trip to the disabled list this year. Choo was looked at by Banister and athletic trainer Kevin Harmon for several minutes before leaving the game. replaced him as a pinch-runner and remained in the game at designated hitter. More >

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Perez strong toward finish line: Perez threw 41 pitches through two innings but ended his outing on a high note. Perez retired 16 of the last 19 batters he faced before right-hander took over in the eighth. Perez has quality starts in 17 of his last 18 outings at Globe Life Park.
"It was one of those things where he did a good job of mixing his pitches," catcher said. "We started mixing in his curveball there and he got some strikes early in the count -- really limited the hard contact. He did really well."

No double play for Detwiler in fifth: Detwiler escaped potential trouble in the second and third innings by inducing a double play each time and had allowed just one run heading into the fifth. After he got to fly out to lead off the inning, he hit Choo and gave up back-to-back singles to Beltran and to load the bases. Detwiler was a double play away from getting out of the jam, but was unable to pull off the feat again, though, as Beltre hit his grand slam an estimated 415 feet, per Statcast™, into the left-field seats.
"I was fighting myself the inning before that, really lost command," Detwiler said. "I was getting in bad counts, and that's what ended up hurting me quite a bit. Beltre is one of the last guys you want to face with the bases loaded. I got 2-0 real quick on him, another product of the bad count I put myself in." More >
Ladendorf thwarts big inning: Before Andrus' RBI single in the fourth, A's second baseman kept the inning from getting out of hand. Beltran singled and Beltre walked to lead off the inning, bringing up . Ladendorf leaped high to snag Odor's liner, which was heading for the right-center gap, to hold the Rangers scoreless until Andrus came up two batters later.

Butler's hot streak continues: Butler got the A's on the board in the first with a two-out single to left field that drove in . Oakland's designated hitter is batting .413 with eight RBIs over his last 13 games after a 1-for-4 effort. His 13-game tear has raised his average to .291, and he's hitting .375 in August.

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS
Perez set the Rangers' single-season record by inducing his 32nd ground-ball double play in the fourth inning. Perez broke a tie with left-hander , who set the club record in 2011, and leads the Majors in that category this season. More >

BELTRE EVADES POSTGAME BATH
It has been Rangers tradition this season to douse whichever player is chosen for the postgame TV interview with water coolers. Beltre did his best to try to halt the tradition after he was chosen for the interview because of his go-ahead grand slam. More >

QUOTABLE
"That's tough, especially with what he's had to go through this year. He's had a few bumps in the road here, and he's fought hard all year to get back on the field. It seems like just when he was getting comfortable and feeling good, he has another tough one there. You feel for the guy, you know he's going to work hard to get back as soon as possible." -- Rangers first baseman , on the injury to Choo
WHAT'S NEXT
Athletics: Right-hander makes his third start for the A's when he takes the mound against the Rangers on Tuesday (5:05 p.m. PT) at Globe Life Park. He has a 6.00 ERA in two relief appearances and one start since being recalled from Triple-A on Aug. 5.
Rangers: Right-hander makes his fourth start for Texas on Tuesday night at 7:05 CT. He allowed six runs in six innings in his last start against the Rockies, throwing 118 pitches in 100-plus degree heat Thursday afternoon.
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