Olson homered to drive in the go-ahead run, Khris Davis hit his major league

OAKLAND Steve Carlton Jersey , Calif. (AP) — On a rare day when Matt Olson wasn’t in the starting lineup, he still became a difference-maker.leading 41st home run and the Oakland Athletics defeated the Texas Rangers 8-6 on Saturday for their fifth win in six games.Olson broke a 6-6 tie against Chris Martin (1-4) leading off the eighth. Olson has a career-high 25 homers, one more than last year. He entered in the seventh on what was scheduled to be a day off, and he is the only A’s player to appear in all 143 games.“I just think we’re resilient, we don’t really give up on anything,” Olson said. “If we get a lead and give it up or if it’s a tie game, everybody wants the opportunity to put us ahead and it’s just worked out that way.”Davis hit a two-run homer in the first. He has 10 homers against the Rangers this year, matching his total against Texas in 2016.Chad Pinder also homered and Matt Chapman added an RBI double in the eighth. The A’s, a big league-best 31-15 since the All-Star break, began the day a season-high 6½ games ahead of Seattle for the AL’s second wild card.Oakland (86-57) is 29 games over .500 for the first time since ending 2013 at 96-66. The A’s have won eight of their last nine games against the Rangers.Ryan Buchter (4-0) struck out Joey Gallo, his only batter, and Blake Treinen fanned two in a perfect ninth for his 37th save in 41 chances.Adrian Beltre homered twice for the Rangers, who lost for the ninth time in 12 games. At 61-81, the Rangers matched their season high of 20 games under .500; they were 42-62 after a loss to the A’s on July 26.“Huge bright spot,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said.Oakland starter Edwin Jackson allowed four runs and five hits in a season-low three innings.Davis’s homer was the only hit in four innings off 23-year-old left-hander Yohander Mendez http://www.philliesfanproshop.com/authentic-aaron-nola-jersey , who was coming off his first big league win last weekend against Minnesota.Texas led 4-2 before Jed Lowrie’s two-run double in the fifth. Pinder homered against Martin Perez for a 5-4 lead in the sixth, and Stephen Piscotty hit a run-scoring double off Eddie Butler in the seventh.Beltre’s two-run homer tied the score in the eighth against Fernando Rodney. Jurickson Profar homered earlier for Texas.Oakland is a major league-best 62-0 when leading after seven innings and is 77-0 when leading after seven going back to Sept. 2 last year.“We had plenty of chances to score more runs, and we didn’t,” Beltre said.GREAT GRABRamon Laureano crashed into the center field wall making an inning-ending running catch that robbed Beltre of extra bases and an RBI with Nomar Mazara at second base in the third.“Off the bat, you’re just hoping it doesn’t go out,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “The next thing you know he’s crashing into the wall. Wouldn’t surprise you if the wall tipped over as hard as he plays.”The 23-year-old rookie slid in the fifth to cut off Rougned Odor’s double to the gap, preventing Shin-Soo Choo from scoring from first.SAMPSON’S STARTSeptember call-up Adrian Sampson is to start Tuesday at the Los Angeles Angels. The 26-year-old right-hander pitched one-third of an inning on Friday in his first appearance in the majors since June 18, 2016, for Seattle against Boston. Sampson will take the turn of 45-year-old Bartolo Colon, who moves to the bullpen.MAKING MOVESThe A’s plan to activate OF Nick Martini and RHP Ryan Dull on Sunday. RHP Frankie Montas is expected to be activated before Oakland opens a six-game trip that starts Tuesday in Baltimore.TRAINER’S ROOMAthletics: LHP Brett Anderson threw 45 pitches in a simulated game on Saturday. The team will evaluate his condition on Sunday, manager Bob Melvin said. Anderson could be activated for the team’s upcoming road trip.UP NEXTRangers LHP Jeffrey Springs (0-0, 2.29 ERA) will open for RHP Ariel Jurado (2-4, 6.00) in the series finale. RHP Trevor Cahill (6-3, 3.60) is 11-4 with a 3.07 ERA in 19 career appearances against Texas including 10 wins with the A’s, the second most against the Rangers in Oakland history. Mitch Haniger might not be a prototypical leadoff hitter.But his statistics since moving into the top spot for the Seattle Mariners indicate he might stay there.The 27-year-old outfielder, who made his first All-Star Game this summer Juan Samuel Jersey , has hit .333 in 41 games in the leadoff role, with eight homers and 19 RBIs since replacing Dee Gordon, who was hobbled by a broken toe.Article continues below ...“He does it a little differently,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “More the George Springer/Mookie Betts type where there’s real pop at the top of the lineup, which isn’t your traditional leadoff guy. I like having him there and it’s been really good for our offense. The consistency he’s had, just on his approach, has been really good from that spot.”Haniger and the Mariners will open their final series of the season Thursday when they host the Texas Rangers.In Haniger’s first game at the top of the order in the major leagues, he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and a leadoff home run in the first inning off Houston’s Justin Verlander.“It’s the same approach,” Haniger said. “Nothing changes. I’ve batted leadoff in college and the minor leagues. I’ve always liked it, but I really don’t care where I hit. It doesn’t really matter to me. As long as there are hits, it’s fine.”The Mariners (86-72) have a winning record against every team in the AL West this season except one — the last-place Rangers (66-92), who are 8-7 against Seattle.Rangers rookie right-hander Ariel Jurado (4-5, 6.66 ERA) is scheduled to start the opener of the four-game series against Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales (13-9, 4.12).Jurado beat the Mariners 8-3 on Friday with five innings of relief, entering after Connor Sadzeck pitched a scoreless first inning. Jurado allowed two runs on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts.Gonzales is 3-1 with a 3.97 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers. He’s 2-1 versus them this season, including a 13-0 victory Saturday in which he allowed one hit in six innings Larry Andersen Jersey , with one walk and three strikeouts.Rangers outfielder Joey Gallo reached a couple milestones Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels as he hit his 40th home run, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to reach that total in consecutive seasons.In his next at-bat, Gallo struck out for the 200th time this season, the most in Rangers history.“I’m trying to get better (at making contact), and I feel like I have gotten better, but that’s me. That’s what I kind of bring to the table,” Gallo said. “When they make their pitch, they’re probably going to get me, but when they make a mistake, that’s when I have to be on my game and hit that pitch and be ready for it.”Interim manager Don Wakamatsu greeted Gallo when he returned to the dugout after his home run.“People don’t know about his sense of humor,” Wakamatsu said. “He came in after that 40th one and I said, ‘We got it Joey.’ He said, ‘Good, well maybe I don’t have to play the rest of the year.’ It’s just his dry sense of humor. But he doesn’t know how good he can be.”