Murray makes his pitch for Rangers

OAKLAND -- When the Texas Rangers were struggling out of the gate this season, A.J. Murray was back in the minors trying to add a two-seam fastball 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 consecutive solid starting pitching performance, yielding two earned runs in 5 1/3 innings a day after being called up from the minors to help the Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics, 6-3, Saturday night for their fourth straight win.

“I’m glad I could go out there and help the team get another win and keep this winning streak going,” Murray said.

David Murphy hit a three-run homer and Chris Shelton had a solo shot for the Rangers, who have won six of eight after a seven-game losing streak that raised questions about the job stability of Manager Ron Washington.

Team President Nolan Ryan said last week he wanted to see how the players responded to the adversity of a bad start before making a decision about Washington’s future. The early results are positive.