A.J. Griffin surrendered back-to-back homers in the second inning Sunday, and the Texas Rangers’ bats were held in check for a third straight game in an 8-3 Oakland A’s win that completed a weekend sweep.
The loss knocked the Rangers three games back in the wild-card standings after arriving to Oakland Coliseum just one-game back. The sweep to last-place Oakland rates as a shocker after taking three of four games from the Los Angeles Angels to start the road trip.
Griffin was pulled after only 3 1/3 innings and plenty of solid contact. Matt Olson and Matt Chapman homered on consecutive swings to move the A’s into a 3-1 lead.