Rangers make up ground in the West

Hank Blalock hit a home run and drove in four runs, leading the Texas Rangers to a 9-8 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night.

David Murphy and Marlon Byrd each drove in two runs as the Rangers won for the third time in 10 games. Nelson Cruz also drove in a run for Texas, which trails Boston by seven games for the American League wild card and the Angels by 6 1/2 games in the AL West.

Eric Patterson hit a home run and Cliff Pennington drove in two runs for the Athletics, who lost for the third time in 11 games.

Tommy Hunter (9-4) won for the third time in four decisions.