Rangers top A's 4-2 to knock Oakland out of 1st-place tie

OAKLAND - Shin-Soo Choo’s home run on the first pitch of the game ensured the Texas Rangers would avoid a third consecutive shutout.

A fourth consecutive strong outing from Mike Minor was just as big for manager Jeff Banister’s ballclub.

Minor pitched six scoreless innings of one-hit ball to win his fourth in a row, Joey Gallo backed up Choo with his 33rd homer and the Rangers snapped out of their offensive slump to avoid a series sweep, beating the Oakland Athletics 4-2 on Wednesday.

“Choo getting off early, getting a run on the board, allowed our offense to kind of settle in,” Banister said. “It gave our guys some confidence to go out and swing the bat and attack.”

Texas was shut out in the first two games of the series and had a 19-inning scoreless streak before Choo’s leadoff homer on the first pitch from A’s starter Edwin Jackson ?(4-3) in the first inning.

It was Choo’s fourth game-opening home run this season and the 27th of his career.

After Choo walked and scored on Beltre’s single in the third, Gallo opened the fourth with a towering drive off Jackson. Gallo’s 74 home runs since the start of last season are the most by a Rangers player over a two-year span since Mark Teixeira had 76 from 2005-06.

Adrian Beltre had a pair of RBI singles to help the Rangers end a six-game losing streak to the A’s. Jurickson Profar added two hits. Elvis Andrus singled and scored after going hitless in his previous 12 at-bats.

Stephen Piscotty had an RBI double for Oakland, which fell one game behind Houston in the AL West.

“You look at the homestand and you have to feel good about winning the series,” Oakland manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve been playing great and bringing the same attitude every day.”

The A’s loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth, but Leclerc struck out Nick Martini on a check swing for his sixth save in 10 opportunities.