Oakland A's Use Strong Offense and Solid McCarthy as They Thump Texas 7-1

Scoring runs early, the A's gave ace Brandon McCarthy a cushion. As it turned out, he would not need much of it.

Going seven strong innings, McCarthy won his fifth game of the year as the A's impressively won the matinee finale of this four-game series 7-1 over first-place Texas. McCarthy only allowed a single run on three hits while striking out five as he lowered his ERA to 2.79 on the year.

The offense was sparked by Coco Crisp, who homered in the third inning to make it 2-0. After the Rangers cut the lead to 2-1 on an Adrian Beltre single in the fourth, the A's busted the game open with a four-run bottom of the fourth.

With the bases loaded, Crisp smacked a bases-clearing triple to right field, making the score 6-1. 

New A's first baseman Brandon Moss closed the scoring in the seventh with his first home run as a member of the team.

About the only negative thing about the game was Yoenis Cespedes having to leave in the first inning with an apparent left hamstring injury. Manager Bob Melvin said his injury was not worthy of another trip to the disabled list. Melvin added he hopes Cespedes can pinch hit in interleague road games.

Good

Coco Crisp. Emphatically good. Going 2-for-4 with a triple, home run and stolen base, Crisp sparked the offense against a good pitcher in Yu Darvish. One can only hope this is the start of his average coming out of the abyss.

Bad

N/A

Ugly

N/A

Now 26-32, the A's begin a nine-game interleague road trip starting Friday night in Arizona. Tom Milone will take on Arizona's Daniel Hudson. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40 p.m.