ARLINGTON – The Rangers are intent on seeing as many of their young pitchers as they possibly can in the time that remains this season, and they certainly did that Saturday.

By the fifth inning of a 7-3 win over Oakland, they had essentially run through three starting candidates. And the guys that actually pitched made good impressions.

Kason Gabbard, the scheduled starter, was scratched a couple of hours before game time with a blister. Rookie Luis Mendoza, who displayed a solid sinking fastball and some grit, was gone after just two innings thanks to a ball that ricocheted off his left knee. A.J. Murray, who has spent the season working as a reliever, pitched three innings to earn his first major league win.

The win, the Rangers' fourth in a row and 11th in their last 13 games, moved them within a game of third-place Oakland in the AL West. The Rangers can tie the A's by finishing off a sweep today.

But the final month of the season isn't so much about this year's finish as it is the future. And that's why Mendoza, 23, got a chance to start Saturday. He impressed the Rangers with a strong finish at Double-A Frisco, and when the club decided it could use some extra arms, he was called away from the Texas League playoffs to join the club.

He made his first start under less-than-optimum conditions as an emergency fill-in. Nonetheless, he threw strikes from the start and got his first four outs on ground balls. But when Nick Swisher lined a ball up the middle, it caught Mendoza squarely on the knee, knocking him to the ground. After several minutes of medical attention, he slowly got up and finished the inning with a couple of fly ball outs.

"He didn't seem to have any jitters," manager Ron Washington said. "And he showed me a lot of guts just by getting up from that line drive. He showed me a lot, period. He showed a good sinker, good makeup, good attitude and good tempo. What we saw, we liked."

Mendoza tried to get back up to pitch the third, but his knee had already started to swell. The Rangers don't believe the swelling will keep him from pitching again this season. Washington said Mendoza would "probably" get another chance to start.

"I just wanted to show them they could trust me," Mendoza said. "I know there is talk of whether I will be a reliever or a starter. I wanted to show them that I can start games."

That is what Murray wants to show the Rangers, too. And Saturday, in his ninth major league appearance, he got his most substantive chance to do that. He threw 42 pitches in three innings, matching the most pitches he's thrown and the most innings he's pitched.

AP

Rangers trainer Jamie Reed (left) checks on pitcher Luis Mendoza, who was knocked down after getting hit by a line drive.

After retiring seven of the first eight batters he faced, Murray walked No. 8 hitter Donnie Murphy with one out in the fifth. Kurt Suzuki followed with a double. The A's scored twice in the inning to trim a 6-0 deficit, but with a runner on and two outs, Murray struck out lefty Jack Cust.

The carousel of pitchers began because of Gabbard's unavailability. He said he developed the blister on his thumb while pitching in the blistering heat at Los Angeles last week, and it affected nearly every pitch he tried to throw during a bullpen session Thursday and while playing catch Friday.

Re-cycled: Manager Ron Washington said he was not aware Frank Catalanotto was only a double shy of hitting for the cycle when he pinch hit for him Friday. However, the manager said he probably still would have opted to go with Sammy Sosa in an effort to put another late run on the board.

Catalanotto had a .494 on-base percentage since Aug. 1, which ranked second in the majors among players with at least 75 plate appearances.

"I was thinking only about getting more runs," Washington said. "I wouldn't ever personally or viciously try to do something to take that chance away from him."

Briefly: Beloit beat Clinton, 6-1, in Game 4 of the first round of the Class A Midwest League playoffs Saturday. The deciding fifth game is today.