"One day before, Jack Cust was saying that he doesn't even think about how poorly the ball travels at the Coliseum at night anymore, he just waits for the weather to warm up.

Or for a day game. On Thursday, with splendid baseball weather in the East Bay, Cust belted a grand slam in the fourth inning to shove the A's recalcitrant offense into action. Matt Holliday added a three-run homer in the fifth and Oakland thumped the Rangers 9-4 to end a four-game losing streak.

"It's nice when the weather heats up because the ball does carry," said Cust, whose blast landed in the seats above the scoreboard in right. "But the ball I hit today would have been out anyway."

Holliday has homered four times in the past 12 games, though he also is batting .188 during that span. The A's as a team are hitting an AL-worst .238 and their 112 runs are the fewest in the league.

"It's a very rare occurrence to see as many good hitters as we have all scuffling at the same time," Holliday said."