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Lewis strikes out 10 through seven frames

OAKLAND -- When the Rangers and A's complete a two-game series Wednesday, they'll both send pitchers coming back from minor injuries, although neither team is hurting.

The Rangers won Tuesday's series opener, 6-1, their fifth win in six games, breaking the A's four-game win streak in the process. Despite the loss, the A's have still won nine of their past 11. They will send Travis Blackley, who skipped his last start with back tightness, to the mound Wednesday while Colby Lewis, who has been on the DL for three weeks with tightness in his right forearm, will start for the Rangers.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out there," Lewis said. "I pride myself on not missing any starts. I just want to do what I do best, get outs and get deep into the game. I don't want to throw 30 pitches in the first inning. You want to make it easy on yourself. I don't see any reason why I can't throw 100 pitches."

Lewis last pitched June 23 in a 11-7 loss to the Rockies when he gave up eight runs, seven of them earned, on 12 hits over four innings. He tossed complete games in two of his previous three starts going into that game, including an eight-inning effort against the A's on June 6. Lewis gave up two runs on six hits while striking out three and walking none in that game. He is one of six Rangers pitchers to spend time on the disabled list this year and will be the third to be activated, joining Derek Holland and Alexi Ogando, who returned to the team on Tuesday.

Lewis, the Rangers' Opening Day starter, is 6-6 with a 3.51 ERA, and has thrown at least 100 pitches in 10 of 15 starts. He threw 89 pitches in his most recent outing, marking the only time he's thrown fewer than 90 this year.

"He'll let us know when it's time to go get him," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "There are no pitch limits. If he's out of gas, he'll let us know. If the Oakland A's feel he's out of gas, they'll let us know."

Blackley's last start came on July 1 against the Rangers. He allowed just one run on seven hits over seven innings, striking out three and walking none in the 3-1 victory. Blackley will be pitching on 10 days' rest as he tossed three shutout innings out of the bullpen in a 7-1 loss to the Mariners on July 7, giving up only one hit and fanning three without walking a batter. Despite not starting a game in over two weeks, A's manager Bob Melvin is not worried.

"Everybody has to go through it," Melvin said. "There's some trepidation regardless of who it is. To this point, everybody's been pretty good. [Blackley's relief outing] kind of bridges the gap to where he'll be all right with where he is, similar to [Jarrod] Parker being off for seven or eight days. It's just something you have to go through after having a four-day break."

Rangers: Hamilton's homer breaks streak
Josh Hamilton hit his 28th home run of the season in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 6-1 win against the A's. That not only tied Hamilton with Adam Dunn for the most homers in the Majors and provided a valuable insurance run but marked the first time in 11 games that the Rangers had scored more than four runs. They had scored just 24 runs in the previous 10 contests. The last time they had scored five runs or more before Tuesday was June 30, also against the A's, in a 7-2 win in Arlington.

The last time the Rangers scored four runs or fewer in 10 consecutive games was in the first 15 games of the 1988 season, from April 4-22. Their 10-game stretch this year was the longest in the American League and the second-longest in the Majors, behind only the Marlins' 12-game streak June 5-17. After scoring a Major League-leading 291 runs in their first 51 games, the Rangers have scored 165 runs in 39 games since June 1, the second-fewest in baseball, ahead of just the Marlins (162).

• Right-handed reliever Koji Uehara was supposed to be activated Tuesday, along with Ogando, but he will be out for the next few days. Uehara, who has posted a 2.11 ERA in 20 games while striking out 22 and walking just two batters in 21 1/3 innings, has been on the disabled list since June 15. He pitched a scoreless inning in a rehab outing for Triple-A Round Rock Saturday but experienced stiffness in his right lat muscle on Sunday. Uehara is not expected to throw for the next couple days.

"We're not going to push it," Washington said. "Once we take him off the disabled list, if something happens to him, he has to go back on for another 15 days. ... It might not be anything. At least he's staying in communication and letting us know how he feels. Once he let us know about this, we shut him down."

Athletics: Homestand features two tough foes
After sweeping the last-place Twins, the worst team in the AL, in their first series after the All-Star break, the A's returned home to face the two best teams in baseball. The AL West-leading Rangers and the AL East-leading Yankees, who arrive for a four-game series on Thursday.

"I think every homestand has the same type of importance for us," Melvin said. "We're playing better, and we're just continually trying to get better. I think we try to leave it at that. I've ready a lot about the next 35 games and all that sort of thing. I really don't see past this series. I know the Yankees are coming in behind them. I think that's as far as we kind of take it."

• Coco Crisp, who has missed the last three games with left shoulder soreness, could return to the lineup on Wednesday. He began feeling discomfort in his shoulder in Friday's game against the Twins, when he went 0-for-4, before sitting out the next day. A doctor examined Crisp's shoulder Monday and found no structural damage. Josh Reddick, who hit his team-leading 21st home run Tuesday, has replaced Crisp in center field in each of the last three games.

"We're a lot closer than we were the last couple days," Melvin said. "He went and saw the doctor, there's nothing structurally wrong, so it's just a matter of when he feels comfortable swinging the bat from both sides, and that'll be the determining factor."

• Yoenis Cespedes, who has started at designated hitter in each of the last five games, could return to the outfield for Wednesday's series finale. He is hitting .500 (10-for-20) with seven RBIs in those five games and is also batting .500 (16-for-32) in nine career games against the Rangers after going 2-for-4 on Tuesday night.

Worth noting
• The Rangers are 16-13 when facing a left-handed starting pitcher this year.

• Despite Wednesday's series finale being a day game after Tuesday's night game, catcher Mike Napoli will start for the second straight day while Yorvit Torrealba is on paternity leave.

• Matt Harrison tossed his second shutout on Sunday against the Mariners, joining Brandon Morrow and Felix Hernandez as the only pitchers to throw multiple shutouts this year. He has won eight straight starts against the Mariners, the third-longest such streak against one opponent in team history, behind only Charlie Hough's 13 consecutive victories over the Indians from 1984-88 and his nine in a row over the Twins from 1981-84.

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