Jed Lowrie homered and drove in two runs to lift the Oakland Athletics to a 5-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.

The win earned the Athletics a split of the four-game series.

Oakland got off to terrific start Thursday, opening the scoring on a double to deep right from Ramon Laureano. Chad Pinder drove in the A's second run on a groundout before Lowrie made it 3-0 with an RBI single.

Those runs were enough for starter Chris Bassitt (8-2), who won his eighth consecutive decision after allowing one run on five hits in seven innings.

Texas got its lone run off Bassitt after Nick Solak's groundout plated Eli White with one out in the second inning.

The Rangers trailed 4-1 after Lowrie led off the fourth inning with a homer to center field. The homer was Lowrie's sixth of the season.

Texas had the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, however Bassitt got out of the jam by inducing Jose Trevino to fly out to center field.

Oakland extended its lead in the seventh inning after Aramis Garcia came home from third on a wild pitch from Josh Sborz that bounded all the way to the A's dugout.

Texas starter Kolby Allard (2-3) surrendered four runs off eight hits in six innings to take the loss.

Three Oakland players accounted for six of the team's 10 hits, with Matt Olson, Lowrie and Garcia having two apiece.

Willie Calhoun, White and Trevino each had two hits for the Rangers.

Texas pitcher Joe Barlow, 25, made his MLB debut in the eighth inning and put Oakland down in order with two strikeouts on only nine pitches.

The Rangers will stay at home and open a three-game series against Kansas City on Friday.

Oakland heads back to the Bay Area for a three-game set against the host San Francisco Giants.