A's Sweep Rangers out of AL West Title
By: T.R. Sullivan - MLB.com
Updated: October 3, 2012
OAKLAND -- Rangers center fielder Josh Hamilton charged in and was under the fly ball. But he said he didn't "break down softly" and get himself in a position to make the catch.
"I continued to run at the same speed and missed it," Hamilton said. "It ticked off the tip of my glove. No excuses. ... I hate that it happened. But it happened."
Yes it did, and the Rangers' hopes for a third straight division title slipped away for good on Wednesday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum. The Rangers had a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth, but the Athletics scored six times that inning and pulled away to a 12-5 victory to claim the American League West title.
The Rangers will now host the AL Wild Card game on Friday against the Orioles.
"We have to shake it off," outfielder David Murphy said. "It's not going to be an easy one to shake off, but we don't have the luxury of hanging our heads and feeling sorry for ourselves. We put ourselves in this position."
