Gray and Lowe star as Rangers shut out A's

*Photo from Yahoo Sports*

   The Jon Gray show took a trip to the bay area. Gray took a no hit bid deep into the game, Nathaniel Lowe homered, and the Texas Rangers defeated the Oakland Athletics with a 5-0 shut out victory on Saturday in Oakland.

   Lowe and Ezequiel Duran each had two RBI's for the Rangers as they won their 6th out of 10 games and are now 24-15 on the season. The big highlight was Gray, who took a no hitter into the 7th inning and ended up with his 3rd win of the season.

   Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of Gray's start that "It was the Jon Gray show. He threw a very similar outing to the last one in Seattle. Threw a lot of strikes , good slider going, good fastball. He mixed it up well. Our bullpen was a little beat up so we needed him to go deep and he gave us all that we expected."

   It was Lowe who kicked off the offense for the Rangers. In the first inning, he gave the Rangers an early 1-0 lead, hitting a single to left field that brought home Marcus Semien. Two innings later, Semien helped the Rangers pad their lead. He made the score 2-0 for the Rangers, hitting a sac fly that scored Josh Smith.

   One inning later, it was Lowe who struck again with the bat. He hit a solo home run to left field in the 4th inning, padding the Rangers lead to 3-0. They wouldn't score again until the 9th inning with the game seemingly in hand. Duran then hit a two run home run to left field, making the final score 5-0 Rangers.

   In his start, Gray improved to 3-1, allowing 3 hits and walking two hitters, striking out 5 in 8 shutout innings of work. John King came out of the bullpen to protect the 5 run lead in the 9th, closing out the win.

   Gray said of his no hitter bid that "I think that it gave me a little bit of energy, really. It felt good. I had something to work for. I like to feel like I'm chasing something out there."

   On the mound and starting for the Athletics was James Kaprielian, who dropped to 0-3 on the season with a loss. Kaprielian allowed 3 runs on 6 hits and a walk, throwing 7 innings with 7 strikeouts. Zach Neal came out of the bullpen and pitched the final two innings, allowing the homer to Duran.

   Up next, the series concludes on Sunday afternoon. The Rangers give the start to Andrew Heaney, while JP Sears takes the mound for the Athletics.