Arlington, TX – Martin Perez earned his first major league victory on Saturday as the Texas Rangers used a five-run fifth inning to down the Oakland Athletics, 7-2, in the third installment of a four-game set.
Perez (1-0) allowed two runs on six hits while walking just one and striking out five over 5 1/3 innings after being called up from Triple-A on Tuesday. He made his major league debut on Wednesday when he allowed four runs -- one earned -- in 2/3 of an inning against the Detroit Tigers.
"He threw enough changeups to get them off his fastball," said Texas manager Ron Washington about Perez. "He spotted his fastball well down in the zone and he competed."
Josh Hamilton ripped a three-run home run, Adrian Beltre added a solo shot and Ian Kinsler knocked in a pair with a two-out single to help the Rangers earn their fifth straight victory.
Tommy Milone (8-6) absorbed the loss, but was hampered by a pair of errors behind him. He was charged for six runs -- one earned -- on six hits with six strikeouts over five frames.
Chris Carter belted a solo shot and scored both runs for the A's, who lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
After belting his first home run of the season in the ninth inning on Friday, Carter crushed his second long ball of the year in his first at-bat on Saturday, giving the A's a 1-0 lead in top of the second.
Beltre responded in the bottom half by launching a leadoff home run the other way over the wall in right to knot the game at 1-1.
Carter then helped the visitors grab the lead in the fourth as he clubbed a two-out double to center, moved to third on a wild pitch and crossed home on a single through the left side from Brandon Inge to make it a 2-1 contest.
Texas took advantage of a pair of Oakland miscues to take the lead for good in the fifth.
Nelson Cruz reached first to start the inning on Inge's error at third.
Mike Napoli then singled to left to put runners on the corners with no outs, but Yorvit Torrealba's grounder back to the mound was fielded by Milone, who fired home to catch Cruz at the plate.
After a line out from Craig Gentry, Kinsler scorched a two-out single, scoring Napoli and Torrealba to give the Rangers a 3-2 lead.
Elvis Andrus then reached on an error from Brandon Hicks at shortstop to keep the inning alive, and Hamilton made the Athletics pay by lifting a three-run blast deep into left-center field, extending the margin to 6-2.
"It's a tricky infield they have here," said Inge of the A's errors. "It's not exactly the most ideal infield."
Texas added to its lead in the seventh as Gentry and Andrus singled around a Kinsler fly out. Hamilton then smacked a single to left, scoring Gentry from second to make it a five-run difference.
Game Notes
The loss was Milone's first since June 3...The Rangers went 19-9 in June, while the A's finished the month 15-13...Texas became the first team in the majors to 50 wins, in game No. 79. The Los Angeles Dodgers were the last team to reach 50 wins that quickly back in 2009...The Rangers secured a series win by taking the first three games of this series. It marks their seventh straight series win.
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