the only starting catcher to hit three home runs in a single game in the history of the team, dating back nearly a century.ready to wear the Texas Ranger outfit as…
Oakland Athletics catcher Shea Langeliers’ Texas homecoming has been filled with highlights so far.
On Tuesday, he became the first starting catcher in franchise history in almost a century to hit three home runs in a game.
On Wednesday night, in the second game of a three-game series in Arlington, Texas, Langeliers will face his old college battery mate. And to top that off, the A’s are on a three-game winning streak after a 1-7 start.
Left-hander Cody Bradford (2-0, 2.13 ERA), who was co-Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 Big 12 Tournament with Langeliers when both played at Baylor, will be on the mound for Texas on Wednesday. The Rangers will try to snap a three-game losing streak.
Bradford will make his first career start against the A’s; he threw one hitless inning vs. them last September. He comes in off a 10-2 victory over the Houston Astros on Friday that saw him allow just two singles and one run over 7 2/3 innings while striking out four.
Oakland won the series opener against Texas 4-3 on Tuesday on the strength of Langeliers’ three homers, including a two-run go-ahead blast in the ninth off Rangers closer Jose Leclerc that proved to be the game-winner.
“It always feels good to get something like that, when you’re seeing the ball that good,” Langeliers said of the three-homer night, the first of his career. “It’s one of those nights — I was seeing the ball really well, putting good swings on pitches in the zone, guys [were] grinding out at-bats, and luckily, I came through for the team tonight.”
