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Jonathan Lucroy should be staying put at the non-waiver trade deadline this time Shaquill Griffin Jersey , and the catcher hopes his bat is starting to come around for the Oakland Athletics.

Lucroy hit an early grand slam off former battery mate and potential trade target Cole Hamels to get a big-scoring night started for the surging A’s. They went on to their 24th win in their last 31 games, 15-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Monday.

”It really would help out this team if I can get going the way I have in the past,” Lucroy said. ”Most importantly, my job is take care of the pitchers and defensive stuff.”

Lucroy, hitting ninth in the Oakland lineup, hit his fourth career slam – his first in more than four years, and only his second homer this season.

”It was big, right away you get four runs like that,” manager Bob Melvin said. ”He’s hit a lot balls hard and deep in the outfield where they ended up being at the track. Not only was it big for us, it was big for him.”

Lucroy was traded from Milwaukee to Texas at the non-waiver trade deadline in 2016, then sent to Colorado at the same time last season. Texas was 11-7 in games Hamels started with Lucroy catching

Stephen Piscotty also went deep against Hamels (5-9), the former World Series MVP with Philadelphia who has struggled at home all season.

Hamels allowed seven runs and nine hits in five innings, with five strikeouts, two walks and a hit batsman. The lefty is 1-7 with a 6.41 ERA in 10 home starts this season, but 4-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 10 starts away from Arlington.

”Yeah Antonio Gates Jersey , probably a four or five-game stretch, probably the worst of my career so far,” said Hamels, who has lost 13 of his last 20 decisions overall since opening his Rangers career with a 31-7 record after his deadline acquisition in 2015.

Oakland right-hander Brett Anderson (2-2) struck out six over six innings.

It was Hamels’ last home start for the Rangers before next Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, whether he’s dealt or not.

”No matter what jersey you have on and what team you’re playing for, the name of the game is to go out and get good results and win,” Hamels said. ”Obviously what I’m doing right now is definitely not the case, but I know I’m capable of doing it.”

Piscotty ended an 0-for-11 slide with his 13th homer, a two-run shot in the fifth that made it 7-2. He added an RBI double after Hamels was out of the game, when Matt Chapman ended an 18-game homerless span with his three-run shot and had an RBI double. Khris Davis went deep for the 24th time this season.

Eight of Oakland’s starters had multiple hits as the A’s finished with 18 overall – though they managed none in the final 1 2/3 innings against Rangers outfielders Carlos Tocci or Ryan Rua when they pitched.

”Just got some momentum going, and everybody got involved for the most part,” Melvin said.

SHORT HOPS

The A’s (58-43) are a season-best 15 games over .500, and their 24-7 stretch since June 16 that is the best in the majors during that span. They still trail Houston and Seattle in the AL West. … Davis has 22 homers and 49 RBIs in 47 career games against the Rangers.

ON THE MOUND

The Rangers used two position players to pitch in the same game for the first time. They have used 14 different position players on the mound. It was the first career pitching appearance Tocci and Rua.

HALF OF 3K

Rangers SS Elvis Andrus hit a two-run homer for his 1,500th career hit. The 29-year-old Andrus is already in his 10th big league season, all with Texas. His teammate Kenneth Dixon Jersey , Adrian Beltre, is the active career leader with 3,117 hits and in his 21st season.

UNDER 100

The temperature at first pitch was 99 degrees. It was 107 degrees both Friday and Saturday nights against Cleveland, the highest ever at the Rangers ballpark in its 25th season. It was 102 degrees to start Sunday afternoon’s series finale, and reached 108 during the game.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: Melvin said RHP Daniel Gossett, out since June 4 with a strained right elbow, ”had a little bit of a setback” and has stopped throwing. Gossett will see another doctor soon after again feeling some tightness.

Rangers: Slugger Joey Gallo was out of the lineup a day after exiting the series finale against Cleveland with a sprained left ankle. Manager Jeff Banister said he just wanted to give Gallo some extra time.

UP NEXT

Rangers lefty Mike Minor (6-6), who pitched only 77 2/3 innings as a reliever for Kansas City last year after missing two full seasons because of shoulder surgery, will reach 100 innings this season when he records two outs in his 19th start for Texas. The A’s will recall RHP Frankie Montas (5-2) from Triple-A Nashville.

—

As soon as Tom Cable drove into the Raiders facility seven years after being fired from his dream job as head coach in Oakland, he knew he wanted to return to the franchise he cheered for as a kid.

Instead of feeling bitterness over his firing, Cable wanted to come back as coach Jon Gruden's offensive line coach to complete some unfinished business.

"This has been my team since I was a little boy, so it's not like it changed because I got run out of town," Cable said Thursday. "It probably just made it a little bit deeper for me, which is cool. That's why I'm here."

Cable's first tenure in Oakland was a chaotic one before he was fired after two-plus seasons as head coach following the 2010 season. Cable led the Raiders to an 8-8 record in his final season, the team's first non-losing season since 2002.

He memorably proclaimed "we're not losers anymore" after that season ended Nick Easton Jersey , a comment that didn't please late owner Al Davis, who fired him shortly after.

"When I left here, I left here and I didn't want to," Cable said. "That's just the truth. I put that team back and got it up off the mat. Dusted itself off, got to .500 and then we're going to change. It was like unfinished business. It was really kind of natural and a comfortable decision to be back and wear these colors again."

Cable joined the organization in 2007 as offensive line coach under Lane Kiffin and took over as interim coach four games into the 2008 season when Kiffin was fired.

Cable ended up keeping the job after the season, thanks in part to a season-ending win in Tampa Bay that knocked the Buccaneers out of the playoffs and ended Gruden's tenure there.

The following season, Cable was accused of breaking assistant coach Randy Hanson's jaw during a fight at training camp. No charges were ever filed and a civil suit was settled in arbitration. Cable was also accused of physical abuse against two ex-wives and an ex-girlfriend that year.

Davis fined him $120,000 because of turmoil those cases brought the franchise. Davis was extremely critical of Cable's behavior in a news conference after the firing but Cable remains appreciative of what Davis did for his career.

"My respect for him is unblemished," Cable said. "I think that's where people would say, 'Why aren't you bitter?' Well, because you see for me it's different. He's a teacher to me. He's a mentor to me. Whether I get along with him or not, wasn't the issue. I took so much from him. To have the opportunity to come back and help make this right, like the vision I had earlier was and to help Jon see this though the right way, that's pretty powerful to me."

After being fired by the Raiders, Cable went to Seattle where he spent the past seven years as offensive line coach. He helped the team build a Super Bowl winner in the 2013 season and returned to the title game the following year where Seattle lost to New England on a late goal-line interception.

The Seahawks struggled on the line the past two years Logan Paulsen Jersey , failing to protect Russell Wilson or generate an effective running game.

But Gruden didn't hesitate to bring Cable to Oakland for a second stint.

"He's a tough guy," Gruden said. "Usually the tough coaches, they help develop tough lines. The thing I love about Cable is he's a great teacher. You can go down and sit in an offensive line meeting for 30 minutes and he can coach about three days' worth of information. He's always ready. He's sharp, but he's a really good teacher. He's into it every day. He's a tough guy. We like him."

Cable joins a Raiders team that allowed the fewest sacks in the NFL the past two seasons, led by a stout interior that includes former Pro Bowlers at center and left guard in Rodney Hudson and Kelechi Osemele, and an emerging right guard Gabe Jackson.

Left tackle Donald Penn has been one of the top pass blockers in the league the last few years and the Raiders also used high draft picks to add first-rounder Kolton Miller and third-rounder Brandon Parker.

Cable also gets the chance to reunite with running back Marshawn Lynch, who averaged 1,339 yards rushing in his first four seasons with Cable in Seattle with 48 TD runs.

"He's one of the smartest football players I've ever known," Cable said. "I don't hand that one out very often. He's been really a blessing for his teammates. He was phenomenal in the locker room as a leader in Seattle. I see the same characteristics going on here."

NOTES: Gruden said he will undergo surgery on his right elbow Friday. "I'm kicking off my summer with a real, real bang," he said. ... CB Gareon Conley missed the last two days of minicamp with a mild groin strain.

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