The last time Jon Gray faced big league hitters, he was struck on the wrist by a line drive in Spring Training, keeping him off the mound to begin the season.

Nearly four months later, Gray made his return to an MLB mound, throwing two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, and earning the win as the Rangers completed a sweep of the Athletics with a 2-1 win at Globe Life Field on Wednesday Night.

“It was great to see him [Gray],” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “Nice job. He gives you another guy down there, another weapon, especially going multiple innings like he did. I was hoping to find a little softer landing for him, but I kinda said, well, it’s time, and he had good command of the fastball, threw some good sliders, hung a couple early that he got away with, but terrific job”.

Gray was set up by Patrick Corbin, who got the ball for the Rangers tonight and looked sharp going 5.2 innings, allowing just 1 run and striking out 7 A’s batters.

“He [Corbin] did a terrific job,” Bochy said. “That was a tough call [to take Corbin out and put Gray in]. It really was. His pitch count was good; he was throwing the ball well. The last hit was a cheap one, but with three straight hits the third time around, I just wanted to give them a different look. But another great job by Patrick. I know he wanted to stay out there because he felt good, with 60-something pitches, but we have the day off and we have the pen that was fresh down there”.

Offensively, it was Corey Seager who provided the game’s first run when he smoked a 434-foot home run to dead center field to open the scoring.

The shot extends Seager’s on-base streak to 24 games, the longest active streak in the AL and the second longest in MLB.

In the 7th, the A’s gifted the Rangers what would end up as the winning run as a pop-up fell right in between shortstop Jacob Wilson and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom, allowing Wyatt Langford to score from first base.

“That’s just flat out hustle, playing the game right and not assuming the ball is gonna be caught,” Bochy said. “Busting it all the way, that’s what speed does, and it won the game for us”.

With the win, the Rangers improve to three games above .500 for the first time since May 17th and have now won 9 of their last 12 games.

“We’re playing well,” Bochy finished. “This is a game that a lot of these have gotten away from us, so it’s good to win this one. It’s a good vibe going on. These guys are playing with a lot of confidence”.