Ross, Athletics tagged by AL West-leading Rangers

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Oakland A's were able to keep the Texas Rangers from having one of their trademark, longball nights on Thursday.

But those pesky Rangers still found another way to win.

Ian Kinsler got four hits, scored three runs and stole two bases, sending the AL West leaders past the Athletics 7-6 for their 11th win in 13 games.

Texas tied a season high with four steals. The Rangers, third in the American League in home runs (98), had only two extra-base hits and walked six times.

"Their lineup, one through nine, it's one of the best in the big leagues, if not the best. And any time you put guys on base and give them a free pass, you're just asking for trouble," Oakland catcher Derek Norris said. "Unfortunately, we gave up a few too many walks tonight and they capitalized on it."

The Rangers drew four walks and hit three singles during a four-run fifth that put them ahead 6-4. In that inning, Texas batted around and hit just one ball out of the infield — David Murphy's two-run single.

"We were able to keep them in the park, but at the same time, they were able to put up enough runs to beat us," A's starter Tyson Ross said.

Ross (2-8) was tagged for five runs and eight hits in four innings. He lost his fifth straight decision.

Josh Reddick hit his 18th home run for Oakland. Norris and Cliff Pennington, the eighth- and ninth-place hitters in the A's lineup, connected for consecutive homers in the third.

Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre and David Murphy each drove in two runs for Texas in a game that lasted 3 hours, 54 minutes, the Rangers' longest nine-inning game of the season.

Scott Feldman (2-6), who gave up eight earned runs in 1 2-3 innings when he last faced Oakland on June 4, won despite allowing nine hits in five innings.

Feldman had lost four straight decisions against the A's.

"I was telling myself bend but don't break," Feldman said. "I had already given up the four runs, so I had to try to limit the damage and keep them there and get our guys back in there swinging the bats."

Joe Nathan earned his 18th save of the year.

In the sixth, Elvis Andrus walked, stole second and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Beltre for a 7-4 lead.

Oakland came back in the seventh with an RBI single by Yoenis Cespedes and a sacrifice fly by Seth Smith. Cespedes finished with three hits and drove in two runs.

Norris' homer was his second in the majors. Pennington was 2 for 28 before he homered.

NOTES: Texas manager Ron Washington still has not determined whether his starting pitcher Saturday against Oakland will be rookie Justin Grimm or Martin Perez, who made his MLB debut with a two-out relief stint Wednesday against Detroit. ... After Oakland beat Seattle 2-1 Wednesday with two solo home runs, the A's got their first three runs on solo homers.