OAKLAND, Calif. — It wasn’t so much that the Athletics were happy to see the Texas Rangers on Monday night. After all, Oakland lost the season series to the last-place club in the American League West last year.
Simply, the A’s were happy to see anyone other than Felix Hernandez.
The A’s snapped a major-league-record, 10-game losing streak in Opening Day games Monday with an 8-0 trouncing of the Rangers.
They beat right-hander Yovani Gallardo in the process behind a terrific pitching performance from Sonny Gray, who carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning. Gray ended the evening firing eight innings of shutout ball. He allowed just one hit and struck out three.
No disrespect intended, but Gallardo isn’t exactly King Felix, the Seattle Mariners right-hander who hung five of those 10 consecutive losses on Oakland. The skid was a major league record.
And when it wasn’t Hernandez, it was the likes of Randy Johnson and Daisuke Matsuzaka who also contributed to the Athletics’ season-opening miseries.
The Rangers have a dominant ace of their own, but righty Yu Darvish wasn’t available Monday. He probably is out for the season following Tommy John elbow surgery.
So it was Gallardo. And equally important, it was the Rangers.
Before Monday, the last time the A’s won on Opening Day was in 2004. Their opponent: Texas.
Sam Fuld, Ben Zobrist and Stephen Vogt had two hits each for the A’s. Vogt drive in three when he launched a three-run homer in the seventh. Zobrist, who came over from the Rays in a trade this offseason, also homered.