Oakland Athletics pitcher Luis Medina had a game to forget during the last of their three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Sunday, September 11, at the Globe Life Field in Arlington, which resulted in a 9-4 loss.

The Dominican allowed five runs on six hits, five earned runs, and three walks while striking out three over 4.1 innings.

Three of the five allowed runs came in the first inning, while the 24-year-old allowed two more in the fifth inning.

A's manager, Mark Kotsay, noted that Medina did a great job bouncing back during the second, third, and fourth innings after giving up three runs in the first. However, things spiraled out during the fifth inning.

"That's the maturity, that's kind of the experience that we need to get him built up and get him through that, and he's got to go through it at times. It's unfortunate today that he just hit the wall in the fifth again," Kotsay said when asked about the rookie pitcher.

AL West playoff race tigtening up

The Rangers snapped a four-game losing streak with the victory over the Athletics, improving to 78-64 for the season.

The team is now fighting for a playoff spot after leading the American League West for most of the first five months of the campaign.

Amid a recent struggle, they are now a half-game back of division rivals Seattle Mariners for the final American League Wild Card slot, while they are 1.5 games behind the Toronto Blue Jays in the second spot.