Donnie Murphy is one of the Texas Rangers stop-gap solutions at first base, along with recent call-up Brad Snyder.
Against a left-handed starting pitcher on Monday night, Murphy was in the lineup at first base and might have given himself another start on Tuesday night by busting out of an 0-for-14 slump in a huge way against one of his former teams.
Murphy homered twice and drove in three runs, including a key two-run homer that busted the game open in the fourth inning in the Rangers' 14-8 win over the first-place A's, one of Murphy's former teams in his journeyman career.
It wasn't the first time Murphy has hurt the A's this year. Back in April, when the Rangers swept the A's in Oakland to move temporarily into first place, Murphy had a big series then, too. He's now hitting .400 with a 1.400 OPS in four games this year at O.Co Coliseum. In those four games, Murphy now has three homers and six RBIs.
Murphy might be far from an everyday player in the big leagues, but this year at least, it seem he might be an everyday player when the Rangers are playing in Oakland.
