Denzel Clarke’s bat often is quiet, but his glove continues to be a loud winning ingredient.
The Athletics’ center fielder excels at robbing homers, with the latest time coming on Tuesday. Now Clarke and the A’s will seek their seventh victory in eight games when they face the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Clarke’s thievery of Andrew McCutchen, along with Jacob Wilson’s two-run single in the third inning, were big components of the A’s 2-1 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday in the second contest of a four-game series.
Texas won the opener 8-1 on Monday.
On Tuesday, the Athletics held their one-run edge with two outs in the fourth inning when McCutchen’s bid for a tying homer came up empty. That’s because Clarke ran back, measured the drive, and leaped above the fence to make the catch.
That further increased Clarke’s reputation as a defensive wizard, as he made several stellar catches last season for the A’s.
Left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-0) gave up one run and three hits over 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win on Tuesday. He praised Clarke afterward.
“It’s beautiful to see how he plays in the outfield,” Springs said. “The territory he covers, the way he gets to the ball, to reach balls he shouldn’t be able to reach, his athletic ability to jump right where the ball is going to drop. It’s not easy, but he makes it look easy.”
What’s harder for Clarke is hitting big-league pitchers. He went 1-for-3 on Tuesday — scoring on Wilson’s hit — and struck out twice as his average increased to .163.
Clarke, who will turn 26 on May 1, has struck out 19 times in 43 at-bats.
The Athletics have envisioned him as a solid base stealer, but he knows why he has no steals this season.
“The hardest part is getting on,” Clarke said. “But we’re working on that, we’re chipping away at that.”
Texas had just four hits on Tuesday, and two came in the first inning — Brandon Nimmo’s leadoff double and Jake Burger’s two-out RBI single.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said he thought the at-bats against Springs were also good in the second and third innings before things disintegrated.
“Then we lost our approach a little bit and swung outside the zone,” Schumaker said, indicating Springs’ changeup was particularly troublesome.
Wyatt Langford returned to the lineup as the designated hitter for the Rangers after a three-game absence because of a quadriceps injury. He was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Right-hander J.T. Ginn (0-0, 3.27 ERA) will take the mound for the A’s on Wednesday. Ginn, 26, will make his second start and fifth appearance of the season. He allowed one hit in four shutout innings against the New York Mets last Friday, not pitching long enough to qualify for the victory in a 4-0 triumph.
Ginn is 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in four career starts against the Rangers. Last season, he served up six homers in 14 2/3 innings against them while going 0-1 with a 5.52 ERA.
Right-hander Kumar Rocker (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will make his third start of the season for Texas. He received a no-decision Friday when he gave up three runs and five hits over five innings in his team’s 8-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Rocker, 26, has been roughed up in losing his two career starts vs. the A’s, allowing eight runs and 14 hits over 6 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
