Gaining a 5-3 victory, the Rangers extended their winning streak to seven games while the A's drew their seventh straight defeat. Five of the eight runs in the game scored on sacrifice flies -- two by Larvell Blanks for the Rangers and one each by Wayne Gross, Mitchell Page and Mike Edwards for the A's.

The Rangers broke a 2-2 tie and clinched the decision with three runs in the third inning. Oscar Gamble and Pat Putnam singled and Eric Soderholm was safe on an error by Gross to load the bases. Billy Sample singled, driving in two runs, and Blanks followed with his second sacrifice fly of the game for the Rangers' final tally. [The Sporting News]



Texas Rangers 5, Oakland Athletics 3
Game Played on Friday, June      29, 1979 (Night game) at Arlington Stadium
A's          0  0  2    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   3  6  2
Rangers      1  1  3    0  0  0    0  0  x  -   5  9  0


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Henderson cf          5   1   2   0     0   1   .250      Wills 2b              4   1   2   0     0   0   .259
Chalk ss              2   0   0   0     1   0   .263      Bell 3b               3   0   2   1     1   0   .279
Gross 3b              3   0   0   1     0   0   .242      Gamble rf             4   1   1   0     0   1   .408
  Ramirez 3b          0   0   0   0     0   0   .161      Putnam 1b             4   1   2   0     0   0   .302
Newman 1b             3   0   0   0     1   3   .233      Soderholm dh          4   1   0   0     0   0   .246
Page dh               3   0   0   1     0   0   .248      Sample lf             4   1   1   2     0   0   .279
Heath c               3   0   0   0     1   0   .235      Grubb cf              3   0   1   0     1   0   .263
Murray rf             2   1   0   0     1   0   .191      Blanks ss             1   0   0   2     0   0   .254
  Essian ph           1   0   1   0     0   0   .260        Norman ss           1   0   0   0     0   0   .204
Armas lf              4   0   2   0     0   1   .247      Roberts c             3   0   0   0     1   3   .250
  Bryant pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .151      Darwin p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Edwards 2b            3   1   1   1     0   1   .245        Lyle p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Keough p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               29   3   6   3     4   6             Totals               31   5   9   5     3   4

Time of Game: 2:36   Attendance: 30,210
Left on Base: A's 7, Rangers 7
DP: A's 0, Rangers 1
Errors: Chalk, Gross
Doubles: Wills (9), Grubb (9)
Stolen Bases: Wills (21)
Caught Stealing: Bell (1), Putnam (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Gross (1), Page (2), Edwards (1), Blanks 2 (2)
GIDP: Chalk (3)
Hit by Pitch: Chalk (1,by Darwin)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Keough L(0-10)          8     9   5   2   3   4   0  36   5.32
Totals                  8     9   5   2   3   4   0  36

Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Darwin W(1-0)           7     4   3   3   4   4   0  29   2.93
Lyle SV(8)              2     2   0   0   0   2   0   8   3.44
Totals                  9     6   3   3   4   6   0  37

Hit by Pitch: Darwin (1)

Umpires: HP - Derryl Cousins, 1B - Don Denkinger, 2B - Steve Palermo, 3B - Mike Reilly


ATHLETICS 1ST: Henderson was called out on strikes; Chalk
walked; Gross flied out to center; Newman struck out; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 0.

RANGERS 1ST: Wills doubled to left; Bell singled to center
[Wills scored]; Gamble made an out to shortstop; Putnam lined to
right; Soderholm grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Page grounded out (pitcher to first); Heath
walked; Murray forced Heath (third to second); Armas struck out;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 1.

RANGERS 2ND: Sample reached on an error by Chalk [Sample to
second]; Grubb grounded out (first unassisted) [Sample to
third]; Blanks hit a sacrifice fly to left [Sample scored
(unearned)]; Roberts walked; Wills grounded out (second to
first); 1 R (0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 0, Rangers 2.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Edwards singled to center; Henderson singled to
center [Edwards to second]; Chalk was hit by a pitch [Edwards to
third, Henderson to second]; Gross hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Edwards scored, Henderson to third]; Newman walked [Chalk to
second]; Page hit a sacrifice fly to center [Henderson scored];
Heath grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 2, Rangers 2.

RANGERS 3RD: Bell grounded out (shortstop to first); Gamble
singled to center; Putnam singled to center [Gamble to second];
Soderholm reached on an error by Gross [Gamble to third, Putnam
to second]; Sample singled to left [Gamble scored, Putnam scored
(unearned), Soderholm to third (on throw to home), Sample to
second (on throw to home)]; Grubb was walked intentionally;
Blanks hit a sacrifice fly to center [Soderholm scored
(unearned), Sample to third]; Roberts struck out; 3 R (1 ER), 3
H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 2, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Murray walked; Armas singled to left [Murray to
third]; Edwards hit a sacrifice fly to right [Murray scored]; On
a bunt Henderson singled to first [Armas to second]; Chalk
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Henderson out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 3,
Rangers 5.

RANGERS 4TH: Wills made an out to third; Bell singled to center;
Bell was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Gamble
flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Gross grounded out (second to first); Newman
struck out; Page grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

RANGERS 5TH: Putnam singled to right; Putnam was caught stealing
second (catcher to second); Soderholm flied out to left; Sample
lined to second; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Heath grounded out (second to first); Murray
flied out to right; Armas popped to first in foul territory; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

RANGERS 6TH: Grubb doubled to center; Blanks made an out to
shortstop; Roberts struck out; Wills singled to first [Grubb to
third]; Wills stole second; Bell walked; Gamble struck out; 0 R,
2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 7TH: NORMAN REPLACED BLANKS (PLAYING SS); Edwards
grounded out (shortstop to first); Henderson grounded out
(second to first); Chalk made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

RANGERS 7TH: Putnam flied out to right; Soderholm grounded out
(third to first); Sample flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 8TH: LYLE REPLACED DARWIN (PITCHING); Gross grounded
out (first unassisted); Newman struck out; Page grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

RANGERS 8TH: RAMIREZ REPLACED GROSS (PLAYING 3B); Grubb lined to
right; Norman made an out to second; Roberts struck out; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 3, Rangers 5.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Heath made an out to first; ESSIAN BATTED FOR
MURRAY; Essian singled to right; Armas singled to right [Essian
to second]; BRYANT RAN FOR ARMAS; Edwards struck out; Henderson
grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 3, Rangers 5.