Texas Rangers Drub Oakland A’s 8-1 as the A’s Are Eliminated from the Playoffs

C.J. Wilson scattered five hits over eight shutout innings, Adrian Beltre homered twice to reach 301 for his career and the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat Oakland 8-1 on Sunday to eliminate the Athletics from playoff contention.

Wilson (16-6) struck out 11 and walked one, following up on his first career shutout — an 8-0 win at Tampa Bay last Tuesday. Wilson set a career high for victories, but manager Ron Washington pulled him after the left-hander threw 111 pitches.

Beltre had four hits while Craig Gentry and Ian Kinsler added three apiece for the Rangers, who have taken nine of their last 10 from the A's this season.

Eric Sogard homered against Koji Uehara leading off the ninth to end the shutout bid.

With the win, Texas maintains a 2.5 game lead over the Los Angeles Angels for the American West lead.

In other Rangers news, the team recalled lefthander Michael Kirkman from Triple-A Round Rock before Sunday's game against the Oakland Athletics.

Kirkman is in his third stint with the Rangers this season, going 1-1 with a 7.33 ERA in his first 11 appearances. He went 3-3 with a 5.05 ERA in 27 games for Round Rock.

Information from the Associated Press used in this report