ARLINGTON, Texas (Interstat) — Carlos Cortes tripled in two runs in the first inning and the Athletics held on to beat the Texas Rangers 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Globe Life Park.

Cortes lined a 106.3 mph shot off the glove of center fielder Evan Carter, scoring Tyler Soderstrom and Brent Rooker after they drew two-out walks off Kumar Rocker. Athletics starter J.T. Ginn left after 3 1/3 innings with right arm soreness, allowing three hits and no runs.

Texas cut the lead to 2-1 in the sixth when a throwing error by reliever Jacob Lopez on a sacrifice bunt by Carter allowed Josh Jung to score. Justin Sterner escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam and earned the win, improving to 1-2. Jack Perkins pitched two scoreless innings for his second save.

Rooker returned from a 14-game absence due to a right oblique strain and went 0 for 4. Rocker (1-2) took the loss despite six innings of six-hit, two-run ball with three strikeouts.

Attendance was 32,031. The game lasted 2 hours, 47 minutes. The Athletics improved to 15-13, while the Rangers fell to 14-14.