Joe Rudi's three-run triple climaxed a four-run seventh inning set up by a throwing error by pitcher Bill Hands that led to a 7-5 A's win over the Rangers. The Rangers had fought back from a 3-1 deficit on homers by Toby Harrah and Jeff Burroughs but sloppy fielding finally settled the matter. Five of the A's seven runs were unearned as the Rangers have committed ten errors in their first four games.

In the A's seventh, Phil Garner walked with one out. Bill North then hit a sharp grounder back to Hands who threw wildly to second base. Claudell Washington singled, Sal Bando flied out and Jim Umbarger, Hands' replacement, walked Reggie Jackson to load the bases. Steve Foucault was brought in to face Rudi, who then delivered his big smash.

Texas manager Billy Martin and coach Frank Lucchesi were ejected by rookie umpire Rich Garcia, calling his first major league game behind the plate. Martin was kicked out for disputing a foul ball call and Lucchesi for arguing with calls on balls and strikes. Lucchesi became so incensed he charged Garcia, had to be restrained by chief umpire Bill Haller, and then fell to his knees and systematically covered home plate with dirt while the fans first looked on in amazement and then cheered their approval. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 7, Texas Rangers 5
Game Played on Friday, April     11, 1975 (Night game) at Arlington Stadium
A's          0  3  0    0  0  0    4  0  0  -   7  9  0
Rangers      1  1  0    0  0  1    0  2  0  -   5  9  3


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
North cf              4   1   0   0     1   2   .357      Tovar lf              4   1   2   0     0   0   .385
C. Washington lf      5   1   4   1     0   0   .412      Randle 3b,2b          4   1   1   0     1   2   .333
Bando 3b              5   0   0   0     0   0   .083      Spencer 1b            3   0   0   0     0   0   .167
Jackson rf            2   2   1   1     3   0   .143        Fregosi ph,1b       2   0   0   0     0   2   .333
Rudi 1b               5   0   1   3     0   1   .353      Burroughs rf          4   2   2   2     0   0   .267
Williams dh           5   1   1   0     0   2   .273      Davis cf              4   0   0   0     0   2   .167
Tenace c              3   1   1   0     1   2   .154      Hargrove dh           4   0   2   1     0   1   .286
Kubiak ss             4   0   0   0     0   1   .200      Harrah ss             4   1   2   2     0   0   .167
Garner 2b             3   1   1   1     1   0   .231      Nelson 2b             2   0   0   0     1   0   .143
Abbott p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Howell ph,3b        1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Lindblad p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Sundberg c            2   0   0   0     0   0   .182
  Fingers p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Lovitto ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                          Hands p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Umbarger p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Foucault p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Thomas p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Wright p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               36   7   9   6     6   8             Totals               35   5   9   5     2   8

Time of Game: 2:59   Attendance: 14,979
Left on Base: A's 8, Rangers 7
DP: A's 1, Rangers 1
Errors: Burroughs, Nelson, Hands
Doubles: C. Washington (1), Randle (1)
Triples: Rudi (1)
Home Runs: Jackson (2), Harrah (1), Burroughs (1)
Stolen Bases: Tovar 2 (3), Randle (2)
GIDP: Rudi (1), Tovar (1)
Hit by Pitch: Sundberg (1,by Abbott), Tovar (1,by Fingers)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Abbott                  1.1   2   2   2   2   1   1   9  13.50
Lindblad W(1-0)         5.2   4   2   2   0   2   1  20   4.05
Fingers                 2     3   1   1   0   5   0  10   7.20
Totals                  9     9   5   5   2   8   2  39

Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hands L(0-1)            6.2   7   6   2   2   6   1  30   2.70
Umbarger                0     0   1   1   1   0   0   1  13.50
Foucault                0.1   1   0   0   0   1   0   2   7.20
Thomas                  1     1   0   0   2   0   0   6   0.00
Wright                  1     0   0   0   1   1   0   3   0.00
Totals                  9     9   7   2*  6   8   1  42

Hit by Pitch: Abbott (1), Fingers (2)

Umpires: HP - Rich Garcia, 1B - Bill Haller, 2B - Armando Rodriguez, 3B - Ron Luciano


ATHLETICS 1ST: Rangers Manager Billy Martin ejected by HP
umpire Rich Garcia early in the game Rangers Coach Frank
Lucchesi ejected by HP umpire Rich Garcia later in the game;
North grounded out (second to first); C. Washington grounded out
(shortstop to first); Bando flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 1ST: Tovar singled to center; Tovar stole second; Randle
walked; Spencer made an out to first; Tovar stole third and
Randle stole second; Burroughs grounded out (third to first)
[Tovar scored]; Davis grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Jackson homered; Rudi struck out; Williams
singled to right; Tenace singled to center [Williams to second];
Kubiak was called out on strikes; Garner singled to right
[Williams scored (RBI), Tenace scored (error by Burroughs)
(error by Nelson) (unearned) (no RBI), Garner to third]; North
was called out on strikes; 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 2 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 3, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 2ND: Hargrove struck out; Harrah homered; Nelson walked;
Sundberg was hit by a pitch [Nelson to second]; LINDBLAD
REPLACED ABBOTT (PITCHING); Tovar grounded into a double play
(pitcher to second to first) [Sundberg out at second]; 1 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 3RD: C. Washington doubled to right; Bando grounded
out (pitcher to first); Jackson walked; Rudi flied out to left;
Williams grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 3RD: Randle lined to pitcher; Spencer grounded out
(first to pitcher); Burroughs grounded out (shortstop to first);
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Tenace struck out; Kubiak grounded out (first to
pitcher); Garner grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 4TH: Davis grounded out (first to pitcher); Hargrove
popped to catcher in foul territory; Harrah grounded out (third
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 5TH: North was called out on strikes; C. Washington
singled to right; Bando forced C. Washington (third to second);
Jackson forced Bando (second unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 5TH: Nelson made an out to shortstop; Sundberg lined to
left; Tovar singled to right; Randle struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Rudi grounded out (third to first); Williams
grounded out (second to first); Tenace struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 6TH: Spencer grounded out (first unassisted); Burroughs
homered; Davis struck out; Hargrove singled to center; Harrah
flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers
3.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Kubiak flied out to center; Garner walked; North
reached on a fielder's choice [Garner to third (error by
Hands)]; C. Washington singled to left [Garner scored
(unearned), North to second]; Bando flied out to center [North
to third]; UMBARGER REPLACED HANDS (PITCHING); Jackson walked
[C. Washington to second]; FOUCAULT REPLACED UMBARGER
(PITCHING); Rudi tripled to right [North scored (unearned), C.
Washington scored (unearned), Jackson scored (unearned, but
earned for the pitcher)]; Williams struck out; 4 R (1 ER), 2 H,
1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 7, Rangers 3.

RANGERS 7TH: Nelson grounded out (shortstop to first); Sundberg
flied out to center; Tovar grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 7, Rangers 3.

ATHLETICS 8TH: THOMAS REPLACED FOUCAULT (PITCHING); Tenace
walked; Kubiak grounded out (pitcher to second to first) [Tenace
to second]; Garner grounded out (shortstop to first); North
walked; C. Washington singled to third [Tenace to third, North
to second]; Bando popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 3 LOB.  Athletics 7, Rangers 3.

RANGERS 8TH: Randle doubled to left; FREGOSI BATTED FOR SPENCER;
FINGERS REPLACED LINDBLAD (PITCHING); Fregosi struck out;
Burroughs singled to left [Randle to third]; Davis was called
out on strikes; Hargrove singled [Randle scored, Burroughs to
second]; Harrah singled to center [Burroughs scored, Hargrove to
third]; HOWELL BATTED FOR NELSON; Howell was called out on
strikes; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 7, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 9TH: RANDLE CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); FREGOSI
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); HOWELL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B);
WRIGHT REPLACED THOMAS (PITCHING); Jackson walked; Rudi grounded
into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Jackson out
at second]; Williams was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 7, Rangers 5.

RANGERS 9TH: LOVITTO BATTED FOR SUNDBERG; Lovitto grounded out
(second to first); Tovar was hit by a pitch; Randle was called
out on strikes; Fregosi struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 7, Rangers 5.