October 4, 2012: Rangers 4-3 win over the A's for the AL West title

The Rangers needed a tiebreaking game, but they end up claiming the title in the division that they led all year until a late season A's surge. The Rangers made the right choice sending Scott Feldman to the hill for the tiebreaker, as he put up goose eggs into the 8th inning. A Coco Crisp 3-run shot in the 8th pulled the A's within a run, but they couldn't get that final run across as Rangers closer Joe Nathan slammed the door.

The Rangers now head to Detroit where they will take on the Tigers, while the A's stay home to host the Blue Jays in the AL wild card game. The Yankees will await the winner and their destination for games 1 and 2 of their division series.

BOXSCORE: 2012 Texas Rangers At 2012 Oakland Athletics              10/4/2012
 
  Rangers            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Athletics          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  I.Kinsler 2B        4  0  1  0 .252     C.Crisp CF          4  1  1  3 .252  
  E.Andrus SS         4  1  1  0 .295     S.Drew SS           3  0  1  0 .199  
  J.Hamilton CF,LF    4  1  1  2 .309   A-C.Carter PH         1  0  0  0 .297  
  A.Beltre 3B         4  1  1  1 .308   B-B.Hicks SS          0  0  0  0 .159  
  N.Cruz RF           4  0  1  0 .259     Y.Cespedes LF       4  0  0  0 .291  
  M.Young DH          4  0  0  0 .281     B.Moss 1B           4  0  1  0 .292  
  D.Murphy LF         3  1  2  1 .286     J.Reddick RF        4  0  0  0 .208  
C-C.Gentry CF         0  0  0  0 .319     J.Donaldson 3B      2  1  0  0 .272  
  M.Napoli C          4  0  0  0 .242     S.Smith DH          3  1  0  0 .231  
  M.Moreland 1B       3  0  0  0 .271     D.Norris C          3  0  0  0 .166  
                                          C.Pennington 2B     3  0  0  0 .219  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      34  4  7  4                 Totals      31  3  3  3
 
A-Pinch Hit For Drew In 8th Inning
B-Subbed Defensively (SS) For Carter In 9th Inning
C-Subbed Defensively (CF) For Murphy In 9th Inning
 
Rangers......... 0 1 2  0 0 1  0 0 0  -  4  7  1
Athletics....... 0 0 0  0 0 0  0 3 0  -  3  3  1
 
Rangers (95-68)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
S.Feldman WIN(11-5)       7 2/3   3   3   0   1   7   1 100   4.08
J.Nathan SAVE(52nd)       1 1/3   0   0   0   0   2   0  13   2.79
Totals                    9       3   3   0   1   9   1
 
Athletics (94-69)        IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
D.Straily LOSS(4-2)       6       6   4   4   1   5   3  84   3.51
J.Blevins                 3       1   0   0   0   1   0  39   2.53
Totals                    9       7   4   4   1   6   3
 
ATTENDANCE- 28,970 DATE- Thursday, October 4th 2012 TIME- Night WEATHER- Average
UMPIRES- Paul Emmel, Scott Barry, Gary Darling, Jerry Meals
T- 2:54
LEFT ON BASE- Rangers: 4  Athletics: 2
DOUBLE PLAYS- Rangers: 0  Athletics: 1
ERRORS- A.Beltre, C.Pennington
DOUBLES- S.Drew(12th), B.Moss(24th)
TRIPLES- E.Andrus(11th)
HOME RUNS- J.Hamilton(40th), A.Beltre(31st), D.Murphy(15th), C.Crisp(14th)
RBIs- J.Hamilton-2(120nd), A.Beltre(111st), D.Murphy(60th), C.Crisp-3(54th)
STOLEN BASES- I.Kinsler(20th)
WALKS- D.Murphy, J.Donaldson
STRIKE OUTS- E.Andrus, J.Hamilton-2, N.Cruz, M.Young, M.Napoli, S.Drew,
             C.Carter, B.Moss, J.Reddick, S.Smith, D.Norris-3, C.Pennington
GIDP- M.Napoli
2-out RBI- D.Murphy, J.Hamilton-2, C.Crisp-3
RLISP 2-out- A.Beltre, S.Smith, M.Moreland, J.Reddick
 
Scott Feldman delivered 7 and two third solid innings and David Murphy hit one
over the fence at O.co Coliseum where the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland
Athletics 4 to 3.
 
Texas took the lead for good in the 2nd inning plating an isolated run.  After
two outs Murphy smashed a solo-shot out of the park.  Texas had 7 hits
overall, while Oakland had 3.  
 
The win went to Feldman(11-5) who allowed 3 runs in 7 and 2/3 innings. Feldman
was helped out by Joe Nathan who recorded his 52nd save.  Dan Straily(4-2)
took the loss.  He surrendered 4 runs in 6 innings and saw his ERA increase
from 3.18 to 3.51.