Josh Hamilton hit a two-run homer to reach 100 RBIs for the season and the Texas Rangers overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Oakland Athletics 14-6 on Friday night. Chris Davis added three hits and a home run for Texas, which won for the fifth time in seven games and moved into second in the AL West. Vicente Padilla (12-5) went six innings for his second win in as many starts since coming off the disabled list. A's reliever Brad Ziegler pitched 1 1-3 scoreless innings to match Philadelphia Phillies right-hander George McQuillan's 101-year-old major league record with 25 scoreless innings at the start of a career. Jack Hannahan drove in two runs for Oakland, which has lost eight of nine to fall into third. The A's are a half-game behind the Rangers and 11 back of the Los Angeles Angels. Hamilton capped off Texas' five-run fourth with his 23rd homer, hitting Sean Gallagher's first pitch over the right-field fence to tie it at 5. David Murphy also hit a two-run homer in the inning and Michael Young had a sacrifice fly. The Rangers went ahead for good in the seventh. Davis reached on a one-out double against Jerry Blevins (0-1), who struck out Jarrod Saltalamacchia before Ziegler entered and surrendered a go-ahead RBI single to Ian Kinsler. Texas added a season-high eight runs against Alan Embree and Andrew Brown in the ninth, two on Davis' homer. Padilla, who threw seven shutout innings in Minnesota on Sunday, gave up five runs and seven hits. He struck out nine after fanning eight in his previous four starts combined. The A's scored five runs in the third on five hits and a walk. Hannahan had a two-run single, Bobby Crosby walked with the bases loaded and Carlos Gonzalez and Brooks Conrad had RBI singles. It was Conrad's first major league hit and RBI. Gallagher lasted 5 1-3 innings, allowing five runs _ one earned _ and nine hits. He walked five and struck out five. Notes:@ A's slugger Jack Cust walked once and struck out four times to extend his AL lead in both categories to 73 and 130 respectively. |