The A's third triple play of the season tied a major league record shared by four other clubs but could not prevent ultimate defeat by the Rangers, 8-5, in ten innings. Jim Kern garnered his ninth win with 2 1/3 innings of hitless relief when Bump Wills led off the extra stanza with a single and scored when Dave Roberts, inserted for Pat Putnam after the count reached 2-1, homered to left. Eric Soderholm singled, took second on a wild pitch and scored on Oscar Gamble's fourth hit of the game.

The triple killing came in the fourth after hits by Gamble and Billy Sample. Johnny Grubb, attempting to bunt, popped to Wayne Gross, who caught the ball but then threw wildly in an effort to double Gamble. Center fielder Tony Armas backed up the play and threw to Dave Chalk to erase Gamble anyway and then alertly sprinted to first base to take Chalk's throw that wiped out Sample and completed a most bizarre triple play. [The Sporting News]



Texas Rangers 8, Oakland Athletics 5
Game Played on Saturday, June      23, 1979 (Day game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Rangers      0  2  0    0  0  0    3  0  0    3  -   8 12  3
A's          3  0  0    0  0  1    0  1  0    0  -   5  6  1


Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wills 2b              5   1   2   2     0   0   .249      Edwards 2b            5   1   1   1     0   0   .236
Bell 3b               4   0   1   0     1   0   .275      Chalk ss              5   1   1   0     0   1   .214
Putnam 1b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .290      Gross 3b,1b           4   1   0   0     1   1   .247
  Roberts ph,1b       1   1   1   2     0   0   .190      Newman 1b,c           4   0   0   0     0   2   .232
Soderholm dh          4   2   1   0     1   0   .245      Page dh               4   1   1   2     1   0   .243
Gamble rf             5   1   4   3     0   0   .410      Heath c               3   0   1   0     1   0   .353
Sample lf             4   1   1   0     1   0   .283        Dilone pr           0   1   0   0     0   0   .187
Grubb cf              2   0   0   0     0   1   .263        Ramirez 3b          1   0   0   0     0   1   .161
  Zisk ph             0   0   0   0     1   0   .220      Armas cf              3   0   2   2     0   0   .235
  Washington pr,cf    2   1   0   0     0   0   .000      Murray rf             3   0   0   0     1   1   .196
Sundberg c            5   0   1   0     0   0   .220      Bryant lf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .165
Norman ss             2   0   0   0     0   0   .191      Norris p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  J. Ellis ph         1   0   1   1     0   0   .261        Minetto p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Blanks pr,ss        1   1   0   0     0   0   .254        Lacey p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Jenkins p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Todd p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lyle p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Kern p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               40   8  12   8     4   1             Totals               36   5   6   5     4   6

Time of Game: 3:00   Attendance:  2,512
Left on Base: Rangers 6, A's 7
DP: Rangers 0, A's 0
Errors: Wills, Jenkins, Lyle, Newman
Doubles: Wills (7), Armas (3)
Home Runs: Gamble (6), Roberts (1), Edwards (1), Page (6)
Stolen Bases: Wills (20)
Sacrifice Hits: Newman (2)
Sacrifice Flies: Armas (1)


Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Jenkins                 6.2   5   4   2   2   2   2  29   3.65
Lyle                    1     1   1   0   2   0   0   6   3.61
Kern W(9-1)             2.1   0   0   0   0   4   0   7   1.61
Totals                 10     6   5   2   4   6   2  42

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Norris                  1     1   2   2   1   0   1   5   5.22
Minetto                 5.2   6   3   3   1   1   0  22   5.17
Lacey L(1-5)            2.2   5   3   3   1   0   1  14   5.40
Todd                    0.2   0   0   0   1   0   0   3   7.56
Totals                 10    12   8   8   4   1   2  44

Wild Pitches: Lacey (4)

Umpires: HP - Bill Kunkel, 1B - Mike Reilly, 2B - John Shulock, 3B - Terry Cooney


RANGERS 1ST: Wills flied out to center; Bell flied out to
center; Putnam grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Edwards homered; Chalk reached on an error by
Wills [Chalk to second]; Gross made an out to second [Chalk to
third]; Newman grounded out (third to first); Page homered
(unearned) [Chalk scored (unearned)]; Heath grounded out (first
to pitcher); 3 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics
3.

RANGERS 2ND: Soderholm walked; Gamble homered [Soderholm
scored]; MINETTO REPLACED NORRIS (PITCHING); Sample flied out to
center; Grubb struck out; Sundberg singled to right; Norman
forced Sundberg (second unassisted); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Armas flied out to center; Murray was called out
on strikes; Bryant grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

RANGERS 3RD: Wills flied to right in foul territory; Bell
singled to left; Putnam made an out to shortstop; Soderholm made
an out to second; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Edwards grounded out (pitcher to first); Chalk
flied out to left; Gross grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

RANGERS 4TH: Gamble singled to first; On a bunt Sample singled
to first [Gamble to second]; Grubb hit into a triple play to
third [Gamble out at third (third to center), Sample out at
second (center to shortstop to center)]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Newman struck out; Page reached on an error by
Jenkins; Heath flied out to right; Armas singled to left [Page
to second]; Murray made an out to first; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

RANGERS 5TH: Sundberg flied out to center; Norman popped to
catcher in foul territory; Wills flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Bryant flied out to right; Edwards lined to
shortstop; Chalk flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

RANGERS 6TH: Bell lined to shortstop; Putnam grounded out
(second to first); Soderholm flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Gross walked; Newman out on a sacrifice bunt
(first to second) [Gross to second]; Page was walked
intentionally; Heath singled to shortstop [Gross to third, Page
to second]; Armas hit a sacrifice fly to right [Gross scored];
Murray grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Rangers 2, Athletics 4.

RANGERS 7TH: Gamble singled to first; Sample forced Gamble
(pitcher to shortstop); John Grubb ejected by HP umpire Bill
Kunkel during at bat; ZISK BATTED FOR GRUBB; Zisk walked
[Sample to second]; WASHINGTON RAN FOR ZISK; Sundberg flied out
to center [Sample to third]; J. ELLIS BATTED FOR NORMAN; J.
Ellis singled to right [Sample scored, Washington to third];
BLANKS RAN FOR J. ELLIS; LACEY REPLACED MINETTO (PITCHING);
Wills doubled to center [Washington scored, Blanks scored]; Bell
was walked intentionally; Putnam grounded out (second to first);
3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 7TH: WASHINGTON STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); BLANKS
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); Bryant flied out to center; Edwards
flied out to left; Chalk singled to left; LYLE REPLACED JENKINS
(PITCHING); Gross grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 4.

RANGERS 8TH: Soderholm grounded out (shortstop to first); Gamble
flied out to center; Sample grounded out (third to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Newman grounded out (third to first); Page
grounded out (shortstop to first); Heath walked; DILONE RAN FOR
HEATH; Dilone was picked off first but was safe on an error by
Lyle [Dilone to third]; Armas doubled to left [Dilone scored
(unearned)]; Murray was walked intentionally; KERN REPLACED LYLE
(PITCHING); Bryant grounded out (second to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1
H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 5.

RANGERS 9TH: GROSS CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); NEWMAN
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING C ); RAMIREZ REPLACED DILONE (PLAYING
3B); Washington grounded out (shortstop to first); Sundberg
grounded out (shortstop to first); Blanks grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5,
Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Edwards made an out to second; Chalk struck out;
Gross was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers
5, Athletics 5.

RANGERS 10TH: Wills singled to left; Bell flied out to center;
ROBERTS BATTED FOR PUTNAM; Wills stole second [Wills to third
(error by Newman)]; Roberts homered [Wills scored]; Soderholm
singled to shortstop; Lacey threw a wild pitch [Soderholm to
second]; Gamble singled to center [Soderholm scored]; TODD
REPLACED LACEY (PITCHING); Sample walked [Gamble to second];
Washington forced Sample (third to second) [Gamble to third];
Sundberg grounded out (second to first); 3 R, 4 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Rangers 8, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 10TH: ROBERTS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Newman
struck out; Page flied out to left; Ramirez was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 8, Athletics 5.