OAKLAND, Calif. – Rookie Nelson Cruz hit an inside-the-park homer and a three-run shot on the way to a career-high five RBIs, and the Texas Rangers beat the Oakland Athletics 8-1.

Robinson Tejeda took a shutout into the seventh, Ian Kinsler added a solo homer and Eric Young hit a two-run double in his first big league at-bat in more than a month. Cruz, a former Oakland farmhand, had his first career two-homer game as the Rangers battered Barry Zito to end the lefty’s three-start winning streak.

Frank Thomas singled in Oakland’s only run – it was unearned – in the seventh, and the Big Hurt tied Fred McGriff for 36th on the RBIs list at 1,550. The first-place A’s began the day with a 71/2-game lead in the AL West over the Los Angeles Angels.

Cruz, likely to compete for a starting job in the outfield next season, doubled his career home run total to four and increased his RBIs to 13.

In the second, Cruz lined the ball to left and Jay Payton initially broke back on it, then charged in and dived. The ball went under his glove and rolled to the wall in left-center. It was the 21st inside-the-park homer in Rangers’ history and first since Mike Lamb on Aug. 31, 2001, against Kansas City.

Cruz had an RBI single in the fourth, then connected in the sixth with a drive over the wall in right that chased Zito (15-9).

The A’s got three straight two-out singles against Tejeda (4-3) in the third but Thomas flied out. Tejeda, who had a six-game winning streak for Triple-A Oklahoma before getting called up Aug. 19, won his third consecutive decision. He allowed 10 hits, struck out one and walked two in 6 1-3 innings.

Thomas also flied out to deep center with two runners aboard in the fifth.

Zito walked three in the first, ending a stretch of 20 straight games in which Oakland’s starters hadn’t given up more than two walks.

Young came to the plate with the bases loaded and doubled to left-center, his first hit and plate appearance since July 29 with San Diego. The Padres released him Aug. 1 and he signed a minor league deal with Texas on Aug. 11 before joining the Rangers on Aug. 25.

Zito allowed seven runs and six hits in 5 1-3 innings, walked six and struck out two in only his third defeat in 11 starts since the All-Star break. He carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of his last outing against the Rangers on Aug. 25 and hadn’t lost since a 14-0 beating at Texas on Aug. 9.

Payton had another tough play when he tumbled on Gerald Laird’s fourth-inning double. Laird scored two batters later on Cruz’s RBI single to Payton in left. Payton also missed the ball off the wall on Young’s leadoff triple in the sixth. He was booed when he came to bat in the bottom half.

Notes: There hadn’t been an in-the-park homer in the Coliseum since May 9, 2003, by Terrence Long vs. the New York Yankees. … Texas C Rod Barajas missed his fourth straight game with a strained back. … A’s 1B Dan Johnson, called up Thursday, earned another start Monday after hitting a grand slam in Sunday’s 10-1 win over the Orioles. He doubled and singled. … Zito lost to the Rangers for only the fifth time in 30 career starts.

AP-ES-09-04-06 1901EDT