WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (Interstat) — Joc Pederson’s go-ahead single capped a chaotic four-run rally in the ninth inning, and the Texas Rangers stormed back to defeat the Athletics 9-6 on Thursday afternoon at Sutter Health Park, salvaging a split of their four-game series.

The Rangers, who squandered a late lead, sent nine men to the plate in the decisive ninth against Athletics reliever Justin Sterner. Jake Burger and Josh Jung led off with sharp singles. Kyle Higashioka then reached on a costly fielding error when Sterner fielded his bunt and threw wildly over third baseman Darell Hernaiz, allowing Burger to score the tying run.

Pederson followed by lining a single to center to score Jung and give Texas a 7-6 lead. After a sacrifice bunt, Ezequiel Duran provided crucial insurance, grounding a two-run single up the middle to plate two more.

The late explosion made a winner of Cal Quantrill, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning to move to 1-0. Sterner took the loss, falling to 0-2 after being charged with four runs, three earned, in the ninth.

The game’s most critical sequence came just an inning earlier, when appeared to seize control. Trailing 5-3, the Athletics loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth against Texas reliever Tyler Alexander. Nick Kurtz then lifted a shallow fly ball to left field that dropped just beyond the reach of a diving Wyatt Langford for a three-run double, giving a sudden 6-5 lead and sending the crowd of 8,764 into a frenzy.

That advantage was short-lived, as Texas immediately answered against Sterner in the ninth.

The game was a back-and-forth affair marked by missed opportunities and key two-out hits. Texas built an early lead with single runs in the third, fifth and sixth innings. Josh Jung provided the Rangers’ biggest blow to that point, a two-run homer to right field in the seventh that extended their lead to 5-3.

Oakland’s offense was held in check for much of the day by Texas starter Jack Leiter, who allowed three runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings. Athletics starter Jacob Lopez was more dominant, surrendering just two runs on three hits while striking out five over five strong innings.

Jung was the offensive star for Texas, finishing 3 for 5 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs scored. His seventh-inning blast seemed pivotal until Kurtz’s double in the eighth. Duran added two hits and two RBIs for the Rangers, who finished with 10 hits.

For Oakland, Kurtz drove in three runs with his double, while Jacob Wilson had two hits and two RBIs. The Athletics out-hit Texas 13-10 but stranded 10 baserunners.

The victory improved Texas to 10-9, pulling them even with Oakland, which also fell to 10-9. The teams split the series after won the previous two one-run contests.

The game time was 3 hours, 11 minutes. It was played under a mix of afternoon and evening conditions as it progressed.

Texas now travels to Seattle to open a three-game series against the Mariners on Friday. will remain at home to host the Chicago White Sox for a three-game set beginning Friday. The two clubs are scheduled to meet again next weekend in Arlington for a three-game series.