The Rangers took both ends of a twin bill from the A's, winning 5-1 in the first game and 7-2 in the second contest. The Texans picked up all of their runs in the opener in the fifth inning. With one out, singles by Larvell Blanks, Bump Wills and Buddy Bell loaded the bases. Pat Putnam then singled home a pair of runs and John Ellis followed with a three-run homer.

The Rangers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap on a bases-loaded out by Richie Zisk and broke the game open with a three-run uprising in the eighth. Billy Sample and Ellis drew walks from starter Dave Hamilton, who was derricked in favor of Dave Heaverlo. Putnam batted for Zisk and belted the reliever's first pitch into the right field seats. [The Sporting News]



Texas Rangers 5, Oakland Athletics 1 (Game 1)
Game Played on Sunday, June      24, 1979 (Day game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Rangers      0  0  0    0  5  0    0  0  0  -   5  9  1
A's          0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   1  7  0


Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Wills 2b              5   1   2   0     0   1   .252      Henderson lf          4   0   2   0     0   0   .500
Bell 3b               3   1   1   0     1   0   .275      Chalk ss              3   0   2   0     1   0   .258
Putnam 1b             4   1   1   2     0   1   .289      Gross 3b              4   1   1   0     0   0   .247
J. Ellis dh           4   1   2   3     0   0   .268      Newman 1b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .228
Gamble rf             2   0   1   0     2   0   .412      Heath c               3   0   0   0     1   0   .300
  Washington cf       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Page dh               3   0   2   1     1   0   .248
Sample lf             3   0   0   0     0   0   .277      Armas cf              3   0   0   0     1   0   .226
Grubb cf,rf           3   0   1   0     1   0   .264      Edwards 2b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .232
Sundberg c            4   0   0   0     0   1   .216      Murray rf             4   0   0   0     0   1   .191
Blanks ss             3   1   1   0     0   0   .258      Keough p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Norman ss           1   0   0   0     0   0   .190
Johnson p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Kern p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               32   5   9   5     4   3             Totals               32   1   7   1     4   2

Time of Game: 2:35
Left on Base: Rangers 5, A's 8
DP: Rangers 1, A's 2
Errors: Putnam
Doubles: J. Ellis (6), Henderson (1)
Home Runs: J. Ellis (7)
Stolen Bases: Henderson (1)
Caught Stealing: Page (10)
Sacrifice Hits: Sample (4)
GIDP: Bell (6), Sample (4)


Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Johnson W(4-8)          7     6   1   1   4   1   0  29   4.00
Kern                    2     1   0   0   0   1   0   7   1.57
Totals                  9     7   1   1   4   2   0  36

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Keough L(0-9)           9     9   5   5   4   3   1  37   5.56
Totals                  9     9   5   5   4   3   1  37

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


RANGERS 1ST: Wills singled to right; Bell grounded into a double
play (shortstop to second to first) [Wills out at second];
Putnam was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers
0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson doubled to right; Debut game for
Rickey Henderson; Chalk singled to right [Henderson to
third]; Putnam dropped a foul fly hit by Gross for an error;
Gross made an out to second; Newman hit into a double play to
right [Henderson out at home (right to catcher)]; 0 R, 2 H, 1 E,
1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

RANGERS 2ND: J. Ellis doubled to center; Gamble walked; Sample
out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [J. Ellis to third,
Gamble to second]; Grubb was walked intentionally; Sundberg was
called out on strikes; Blanks flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
3 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Heath grounded out (pitcher to first); Page
walked; Page was caught stealing second (catcher to second);
Armas walked; Edwards grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

RANGERS 3RD: Wills grounded out (shortstop to first); Bell
walked; Putnam lined to right; J. Ellis grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Murray made an out to second; Henderson singled
to left; Chalk flied out to right; Henderson stole second; Gross
flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics
0.

RANGERS 4TH: Gamble grounded out (second to first); Sample
grounded out (third to first); Grubb grounded out (second to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Newman popped to catcher in foul territory; Heath
flied out to right; Page singled to left; Armas flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 0, Athletics 0.

RANGERS 5TH: Sundberg flied out to left; Blanks singled to
second; Wills singled to right [Blanks to second]; Bell singled
to left [Blanks to third, Wills to second]; Putnam singled to
center [Blanks scored, Wills scored, Bell to third]; J. Ellis
homered [Bell scored, Putnam scored]; Gamble singled to pitcher;
Sample flied out to center; Grubb singled to center [Gamble to
third, Grubb out at second (center to third to second to
first)]; 5 R, 7 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Edwards grounded out (second to first); Murray
popped to first in foul territory; Henderson flied out to right;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 0.

RANGERS 6TH: Sundberg grounded out (shortstop to first); Blanks
flied out to center; Wills flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 6TH: NORMAN REPLACED BLANKS (PLAYING SS); Chalk
walked; Gross forced Chalk (first to shortstop); Newman grounded
out (first unassisted) [Gross to second]; Heath walked; Page
singled to center [Gross scored, Heath to third]; Armas popped
to third in foul territory; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 5,
Athletics 1.

RANGERS 7TH: Bell flied out to left; Putnam grounded out (second
to first); J. Ellis grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Edwards flied out to right; Murray struck out;
Henderson flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5,
Athletics 1.

RANGERS 8TH: Gamble walked; Sample grounded into a double play
(third to second to first) [Gamble out at second]; Grubb flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Chalk singled to third; KERN REPLACED JOHNSON
(PITCHING); Gross singled to left [Chalk to second]; Newman
struck out; Heath flied out to center; Page flied out to center;
0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 1.

RANGERS 9TH: Sundberg flied out to right; Norman grounded out
(shortstop to first); Wills was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 9TH: WASHINGTON REPLACED GAMBLE (PLAYING CF); GRUBB
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING RF); Armas grounded out (shortstop to
first); Edwards popped to first in foul territory; Murray flied
out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 5, Athletics 1.