OAKLAND, Calif. » Rookie Jarrod Parker chatted with teammates in the dugout and kept his same demeanor as he worked his way through seven hitless innings against the Texas Rangers. The way his changeup and fastball were working against baseball’s top hitting team, there was no reason to change.

Parker held Texas hitless until the eighth inning and Brandon Inge drove in four runs in Oakland’s eight-run second as the Athletics beat the Rangers 12-1 on Monday night.

"We went in with a really good plan and the execution of it was exactly what we wanted to do," Parker said. "It’s one of those days. I had good stuff and they were off a little bit."

Kila Ka’aihue, an ‘Iolani alum, hit a two-run homer for the Athletics.

Parker (2-2) easily worked his way through the powerful Rangers lineup in his ninth career start before Michael Young grounded a single through the middle on a slider to lead off the eighth.

"I made a bad pitch and he hit it up the middle and did what he was supposed to do," Parker said.

Parker got a warm ovation from the crowd of 10,120 and then recovered to get out of the inning on two more pitches — a popup by Nelson Cruz and an inning-ending double play from David Murphy.

That ended the night for Parker, who allowed one hit, walked three and struck out six.

"We had a good tempo going," said catcher Kurt Suzuki, a former Baldwin High standout. "In the beginning part he was kind of settling into his own. In the third inning he really settled in and started throwing quality pitches. Against a team like the Rangers, to do that was impressive."

Inge started the scoring in the big inning with a three-run homer off Scott Feldman (0-4) and capped it with an RBI single as the A’s normally meek bats broke through with a big night.

Feldman was charged with all eight runs in the second inning and lost his fourth straight start. Things got so bad for the Rangers in their fifth loss in six games that they brought in outfielder Craig Gentry to pitch the eighth, the first position player to take the mound for Texas since Scott Sheldon on Sept. 6, 2000.

Gentry allowed a two-run double to Yoenis Cespedes to give the A’s a season high with 12 runs. Oakland had been shut out in seven of its previous 18 games and had just 12 runs during a recent nine-game skid.

Parker did not make the A’s rotation out of spring training after being acquired in an offseason trade from Arizona for All-Star Trevor Cahill. He has been sharp ever since being called up from the minors.