Rangers rough up A's rookie early, take Game 1 of DH

Rougned Odor belted right-hander Daulton Jefferies' 20th major-league pitch for a three-run homer and Ronald Guzman added a two-run shot two batters later Saturday afternoon as the Texas Rangers scored five first-inning runs and made them hold up for a 5-2 victory over the visiting Oakland Athletics in the first game of a doubleheader.

Rougned Odor belted right-hander Daulton Jefferies' 20th major-league pitch for a three-run homer and Ronald Guzman added a two-run shot two batters later Saturday afternoon as the Texas Rangers scored five first-inning runs and made them hold up for a 5-2 victory over the visiting Oakland Athletics in the first game of a doubleheader. The first-place A's (28-16) were scheduled to send right-hander Chris Bassitt to the mound in the nightcap to oppose Kolby Allard of the last-place Rangers (16-29).

The win was just Texas' second in eight head-to-heads with Oakland this season. The 25-year-old Jefferies walked two of the first four men he faced before Odor took him deep to right field for his fifth homer of the season and a 3-0 lead.

After Elvis Andrus followed with an infield single, Guzman then crushed his third homer of the season to right, making it 5-0. Jefferies (0-1) pitched a scoreless second inning, allowing one hit, before getting pulled. He was charged with five runs on five hits in his two innings, with two walks and one strikeout.

After going down 1-2-3 in the first inning against Rangers opener Nick Goody, the A's chipped away at the Texas bullpen, scoring once in the third on a Jonah Heim single, then once in the sixth on an RBI double by Matt Olson. But Oakland mustered just four total hits off Rangers relievers Wes Benjamin (1-0), Jonathan Hernandez and closer Rafael Montero, with the latter working a 1-2-3 seventh for his eighth save.

The win was the first of Benjamin's major-league career in just his fifth game. Odor and Guzman had the only extra-base hits for the Rangers, who had lost two in a row and six of eight, including Friday's series opener 10-6.

Texas out-hit Oakland 5-4 in the seven-inning game. Jordan Weems and Lou Trivino combined for four innings of no-hit relief for the A's, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Weems faced just nine batters in three perfect innings, striking out five of them. --Field Level Media

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