Emil Brown and the Oakland Athletics used an aggressive approach to jump-start their offense. Brown hit a three-run homer and drove in four runs to help the Athletics beat Texas 12-6, ending the Rangers' season-best five-game winning streak Sunday. "I'm not a walk guy," Brown said. "I'm just ready to hack." Frank Thomas drove in two runs to give him 1,695 RBIs, tying him with Cal Ripken for 21st...

No shutout this time. The Texas Rangers still got the victory after a lengthy outing from their bullpen. Five Texas relievers pitched 8 1-3 innings after Kevin Millwood left with an injury as the Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 6-4 on Saturday night for their fifth straight win, despite having their shutout streak end at 33 innings.

Texas Rangers pitchers keep posting zeros -- 31 in a row, to be exact. "It's a contagious thing," reliever Jamey Wright said. "You want to come in and keep the momentum going. You really want to be in there right now." The surging Rangers got their third consecutive shutout, and extended the second-longest scoreless streak in team history to 31 straight innings, when Scott Feldman, Wright and two...

Kason Gabbard threw an eye-high pitch at Richie Sexson. That was it for the Mariners 6-foot-8 first baseman. He charged the mound, sparking a fourth-inning brawl in Texas' 5-0 win over Seattle on Wednesday night. "I'm 6-foot-8. He can hit corners at will," Sexson said. "6-8 and all of a sudden he's up that high?

Vicente Padilla knew he had a challenge in his matchup against Seattle Mariners ace Erik Bedard. But the Texas Rangers' right-hander had a distinct advantage. He faced the Mariners' offense, which hasn't been much of a threat lately. Padilla allowed two hits over seven innings to outpitch Bedard and Milton Bradley homered as the Rangers beat the struggling Mariners 2-0 Wednesday night.

Telling Sidney Ponson this is his last chance in baseball may be the best move the Rangers will make this year. "That's just the way he thinks," the forgotten veteran right-hander said, bristling when reminded what manager Ron Washington told him when Texas signed him to a minor-league contract in March.

John McLaren was being his usual, sunny self. The Seattle Mariners' manager was encouraging Jarrod Washburn, saying he'd been pitching far better than his record indicated. "I'm 1-4, Mac. I'm 1-4!" the left-hander growled back at McLaren last week, without cracking a smile. A smile appeared Monday night -- for Washburn and his previously punchless offense.

Jack Cust is particular about his bats, and the first shipment just wasn't working. He received another shipment just in time to start a hitting streak last week. The new bats are keepers. "They sent me four bats while we were in Seattle and they felt harder," Cust said. "You can ask any one, I'm probably the pickiest when it comes to bats.

When the Texas Rangers were struggling out of the gate this season, A.J. Murray was back in the minors trying to add a new pitch to his repertoire. Murray showed that all that work paid off in his first appearance of the season in the majors. Murray gave Texas its third straight solid starting pitching performance, allowing two earned runs in 5 1-3 innings a day after being called up from the minors...

Julio Franco finally called it quits. The 49-year-old announced his retirement from baseball after a 23-year career in the major leagues and stints in his native Dominican Republic, South Korea, Japan and Mexico. In 2007, he became the oldest player to hit a home run in the majors. "It was the hardest decision in my life," Franco said in an interview published Saturday by Mexican sports daily...

Ron Washington watched his old team make repeated, uncharacteristic mistakes and his current club take advantage each time. Milton Bradley had three hits with a double and run scored against his former team, and the Texas Rangers capitalized on four errors by the Oakland Athletics in a 4-3 victory Friday night for their first three-game winning streak of the season.

When Sidney Ponson got released by Minnesota last May, the big right-hander knew he wasn't physically or mentally ready to keep pitching. So he went home and was out of the major leagues until last week. Now his pitches are sinking again, and his confidence is soaring. Ponson went eight innings to earn his first victory in exactly a year and the Texas Rangers finished off a successful homestand with...