A's bust it open in eighth, sweep Rangers at home

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BOX SCORE

OAKLAND -- Texas starter A.J. Griffin gave up back-to-back home runs in the second inning and retired only 10 batters, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Rangers 8-3 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep.

Shin-Soo Choo hit his 16th home run and the Rangers added an unearned run but managed little else against A's starter Jharel Cotton and three relievers.

The loss dropped Texas three games behind Minnesota for the second AL wild card.

Adding to the Rangers' woes was uncertainty over where they'll play next.

Texas is scheduled to begin a three-game series against the Astros in Houston on Tuesday, but those plans were on hold because of severe flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey. The Rangers will fly to Dallas - as will the Astros - until Major League Baseball figures out what to do.

Griffin (6-5) beat the A's on April 17 but didn't last long against his former club this time. The right-hander allowed three runs on five hits, struck out three and walked three before manager Jeff Banister pulled him after Griffin gave up a one-out double to Bruce Maxwell in the fourth.

The Rangers didn't offer much offensive support.

Choo's home run marked the first time someone other than Adrian Beltre had an RBI against the A's in the series. Elvis Andrus added a run-scoring single in the eighth but Mike Napoli lined into an inning-ending double play with the bases loaded.

Cotton (7-10) matched his career high of nine strikeouts, allowed one unearned run and pitched four-hit ball over six innings to win consecutive starts for the second time this season.

Blake Treinen retired five batters for his seventh save.

Matt Olson, the A's rookie first baseman who spent most of the year in the minors, hit his ninth home run in 35 games off Griffin in the second. Two pitches later, Matt Chapman connected for his 10th.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Rangers: LHP Jake Diekman will pitch for Triple-A Round Rock on Monday while continuing a comeback from three abdominal operations.

Athletics: INF Jed Lowrie exited with a bruised left shin in the sixth. . RHP Paul Blackburn is scheduled for an MRI on his right hand. Blackburn was hit by a line drive off the bat of Baltimore's Trey Mancini on Tuesday.

UP NEXT

Rangers: LHP Martin Perez (9-10, 5.00 ERA) is scheduled to start the series opener against the Astros following an off day Monday. Perez has won four straight after dropping three consecutive games.

Athletics: RHP Daniel Gossett (3-6, 5.49) continues his up-and-down season Monday at the Los Angeles Angels.

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