Almost lost in the walk-off celebration Sunday was a clutch moment authored by Chad Pinder, the Athletics’ versatile utility player and one of the most valuable pieces on the roster for manager Mark Kotsay. As the A’s continually came up empty with runners on base, it was Pinder who delivered a game-tying pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to tie the score against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum. When Pinder came to the plate, the A’s were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Almost lost in the walk-off celebration Sunday was a clutch moment authored by Chad Pinder, the Athletics’ versatile utility player and one of the most valuable pieces on the roster for manager Mark Kotsay. As the A’s continually came up empty with runners on base, it was Pinder who delivered a game-tying pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to tie the score against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum. When Pinder came to the plate, the A’s were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

Almost lost in the walk-off celebration Sunday was a clutch moment authored by Chad Pinder, the Athletics’ versatile utility player and one of the most valuable pieces on the roster for manager Mark Kotsay. As the A’s continually came up empty with runners on base, it was Pinder who delivered a game-tying pinch-hit single in the eighth inning to tie the score against the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum. When Pinder came to the plate, the A’s were 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position.

On Saturday, Lowrie spoke with John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle about his feelings on the art of switch-hitting in a post-shift game. Lowrie and Skye Bolt are the only switch-hitters currently on the A’s 40-man roster. Batting both ways has become increasingly less common as the infield shift on left-handed batters is now essentially routine, offsetting the advantage of switching sides in matchups against certain pitchers.

Houston Astros (30-18, first in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (20-30, fifth in the AL West) Oakland, California; Monday, 4:07 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Framber Valdez (4-2, 2.83 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 43 strikeouts); Athletics: Paul Blackburn (5-0, 1.70 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 36 strikeouts) LINE: Astros -182, Athletics +156; over/under is 7 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics host the Houston Astros on Monday to begin a three-game series.

Jed Lowrie's two-out single in the bottom of the ninth drove home Cristian Pache with winning run as the Oakland Athletics roared back to beat the visiting Texas Rangers 6-5 on Sunday afternoon to salvage the finale of a four-game series between the American League West rivals. Lowrie's hit off the Rangers' Brett Martin (0-4) made a winner out of closer Dany Jimenez (2-2) after he had allowed Texas to tie the game in the top of the ninth on a wild pitch.

Once again, the Athletics showed on Sunday that they have plenty of fight with a walk-off win over the Texas Rangers.

Holy Toledo. The Oakland A’s won a bonkers game Sunday, a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Texas Rangers to avoid being swept in their series finale at the Coliseum. The A’s staged a successful late comeback, then blew the save in the 9th on a wild pitch, then rallied in the bottom half to win anyway.

Brad Miller singles to right field. Andy Ibanez to third. Nathaniel Lowe scores.

The Texas Rangers scored five runs but the Oakland Athletics scored six times. The Rangers and A’s played today’s game like each player had been given a secret directive by a bored billionaire to personally try to sabotage their team and lose. Evidence?

Jed Lowrie singled home Cristian Pache with two out in the ninth inning Sunday as the Athletics avoided a four-game sweep with a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers before a crowd of 8,342 at the Coliseum. Pache opened the ninth with a single to right against losing pitcher Brett Martin. After Tony Kemp popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt, Pache went to second when Ramon Laureano hit a grounder off Martin, who retired Laureano at first.

He was acquired in the deal that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto. Lemoine served up a grand slam to Marcus Semien against Texas and had a 7.71 earned run average in nine appearances and Kolarek a 4.58 earned run average in 15 games. Together, the trio gave up 16 hits in six innings against the Rangers before new addition Austin Pruitt, called up from Las Vegas Saturday, finished things off with three scoreless innings.

He was acquired in the deal that sent Matt Chapman to Toronto. Lemoine served up a grand slam to Marcus Semien against Texas and had a 7.71 earned run average in nine appearances and Kolarek a 4.58 earned run average in 15 games. Together, the trio gave up 16 hits in six innings against the Rangers before new addition Austin Pruitt, called up from Las Vegas Saturday, finished things off with three scoreless innings.

Texas Rangers (22-23, third in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (19-30, fifth in the AL West) Oakland, California; Sunday, 4:07 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Dane Dunning (1-3, 4.32 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 51 strikeouts); Athletics: James Kaprielian (0-2, 5.48 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 19 strikeouts) LINE: Rangers -118, Athletics -101; over/under is 7 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics aim to stop their four-game home slide with a victory against the Texas Rangers.

Making it worse for the announced crowd of 6,502 is the game was broken wide open in the fifth inning when favorite son Marcus Semien unloaded a grand slam against Jake Lemoine for a 9-1 lead. It was Semien’s first home run of the season after signing a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason one year after hitting 45 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Making it worse for the announced crowd of 6,502 is the game was broken wide open in the fifth inning when favorite son Marcus Semien unloaded a grand slam against Jake Lemoine for a 9-1 lead. It was Semien’s first home run of the season after signing a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason one year after hitting 45 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Making it worse for the announced crowd of 6,502 is the game was broken wide open in the fifth inning when favorite son Marcus Semien unloaded a grand slam against Jake Lemoine for a 9-1 lead. It was Semien’s first home run of the season after signing a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Rangers in the offseason one year after hitting 45 home runs for the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Oakland A’s made a change in their bullpen Saturday morning. The team announced that they called up reliever Austin Pruitt from Triple-A. To make room for him on both the 40-man roster and the active 26-man roster, fellow reliever Justin Grimm was designated for assignment. The A’s signed both pitchers over the offseason as minor league free agents.

Andy Ibanez singles to left field. Nathaniel Lowe to second. Kole Calhoun scores.

After getting off to a good start in a game that included home runs by Sean Murphy and Chad Pinder, the Athletics bats went silent for the final two-thirds of the game The A’s bullpen, which has exceeded expectations this season, faltered and the Rangers scored six runs in the last three innings after a strong start by left-hander Cole Irvin.