On a night they both homered — Ramon Laureano for the first two times in his career — the rookie learned far more about teammate Khris Davis than just his ability to clear fences.
Davis’ heart shined through as far as a 438-foot home run he hit sandwiched between Laureano’s two long balls.
Davis hit a towering drive after letting a young fan from the Make-A-Wish Foundation sign his jersey and Laureano drove in five runs on his two shots as the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 9-0 on Monday night.
Photo: AFP
“Wow, he’s awesome,” Laureano said. “That’s so emotional, it’s so cool that he did that for that kid.”
Davis’ shot for his 37th homer of the year clanked off a window of the suite level in left-center field.
He did it wearing a uniform signed by 10-year-old Anthony Slocumb. The Oakland sixth-grader, in remission from a rare cancer, attended the game with a group from the foundation and Davis asked him to sign his jersey before the game.
Davis had no thoughts of switching uniforms.
“I wanted to rock that,” he said.
“I thought about him around the bases,” Davis said. “There’s not a better feeling than hitting a home run, so hopefully he got some excitement and joy from watching that.”
Laureano connected in the second and again in the sixth with a three-run shot that chased Bartolo Colon (7-11), the 45-year-old Rangers starter scratched a day earlier against the Angels because of back stiffness.
“Of course it bothers me,” Colon said through an interpreter. “But I’m in good condition, so I think I will try to keep pitching.”
Stephen Piscotty homered in the seventh for Oakland.
Marcus Semien added an RBI double to back Mike Fiers (9-6) as Oakland tied the Astros for the American League West lead. The A’s took two of three during a weekend series against the reigning World Series champions to stay right on Houston’s heels.
“This is fun,” Laureano said. “Everybody is doing their jobs, so I have zero pressure. I’m just trying to play my game, help the team win, take good at-bats and that’s what I focus on.”
Fiers allowed one hit, struck out eight and walked one over seven innings in his third start for the A’s, who have won the past five against the Rangers.
Colon was trying to win his third straight start after losing five in a row. He allowed seven runs and 10 hits in five innings facing his former club.
Colon pitched in 2012-2013 for the A’s, serving a 50-game suspension in 2012 after testing positive for testosterone. He also pitched at the Coliseum in his Rangers debut on April 2.
Texas began a week-long stay in the Bay Area with an interleague series set for this weekend against the Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco.
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