Josh Jung smashed a three-run homer off All-Star closer Mason Miller in the 10th inning, leading the Texas Rangers to a 6-4 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
This marked the Rangers’ second consecutive walk-off win and their fifth in six home victories since August 5.
“They keep fighting, that’s what stands out about them,” said Bruce Bochy, who tied Bucky Harris for eighth on the all-time manager wins list with his 2,158th victory. “You’re down by two in extra innings against one of the best closers in the game, and they just kept battling.”
Miller (1-2), who was the winning pitcher for the American League in this summer’s All-Star Game in Texas, pitched a scoreless ninth inning and recorded the first two outs in the 10th.
However, Adolis García then hit an RBI single off a 2-2 slider, and Wyatt Langford drew a walk after fouling off four pitches. Jung followed by driving a 101.7 mph fastball the opposite way, just inside the right-field pole, for his fifth home run of the season.
Playing in only his 28th game after missing 102 due to a fractured right wrist, Jung wasn’t sure the ball was gone until it landed a couple of rows deep.
“It’s a step in the right direction,” said Jung, who also expressed frustration over missing an earlier RBI opportunity. “I went out there and started over-swinging again, even though I just fixed that the other day. So being able to stay controlled against a 100 mph pitch and turn it around is a big deal for me.”
Oakland had gone ahead in the 10th against Matt Festa (3-1), who struck out his first two batters before Seth Brown hit a tiebreaking RBI triple and Zack Gelof followed with a double.
Miller, who hadn’t pitched since Wednesday, threw 34 pitches in his 1 2/3 innings.
“That last at-bat of the game is a fastball up and in. Jung got the barrel to it and it goes out to right field,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “So, you know, a tough way to lose. But we had the right guy on the mound and it just didn’t go our way today.”
Lawrence Butler and Brent Rooker each had four hits for the A’s (59-78), who had runners at first and third in the ninth before Shea Langeliers grounded into an inning-ending double play. Oakland had 16 hits and left 11 runners on base.
Corey Seager hit a one-out double in the first for Texas (65-72) and scored on a double by García, who entered in a 6-for-40 slide over his previous 11 games. García added another double leading off the sixth, when the Rangers loaded the bases without scoring.