OAKLAND, Calif. — With a scheduling quirk resulting in seven straight Thursdays off, the Oakland A's chose to push their fifth starter to the back of the starting rotation line.

That meant Shane Komine made his second major-league start last night on eight-days rest, double the normal amount.

Komine, a Kalani High graduate, didn't use that as an excuse following a tough night in which he gave up a pair of two-run homers in the third inning to Michael Young and Mark DeRosa, and didn't get an out before getting replaced in the fourth inning.

The A's rallied for a wild 7-6 victory over the Texas Rangers before 21,650 fans at the Coliseum, taking Komine off the hook of getting the loss.

A's manager Ken Macha said the team's decision makers will talk today on whether Komine will get a third start.

"Whether I'm up here or not, I can't really worry about that," Komine said. "I have to pitch my game. Whatever they decide is up to them."

Kirk Saarloos began the year in the A's bullpen, made 10 starts in the first half for the injured Rich Harden, then saw the A's bring up Jason Windsor after the all-star break to take his place in the rotation. Windsor lasted two starts, until Komine took his place.

Saarloos (4-6) bailed Komine out of the fourth inning and pitched four scoreless innings to get the win.

Komine didn't help himself by throwing a first-pitch ball to 11 of the 19 batters he faced. He walked four, struck out none, and just 33 of his 70 pitches were strikes.

"I had time to prepare, even though it was the first time with this much time between starts," Komine said. "I left a lot of pitches up in the zone. I didn't get ahead of hitters like I should have. Three innings and four runs later, that's what happens."

Both home runs came on fastballs up in the zone.

"He left some balls up to some pretty good hitters," A's catcher Jason Kendall said. "That's a darn good hitting team over there."

Komine was in trouble early, loading the bases with one out in the first inning. Eric Chavez made a nice stop on a smash by Hank Blalock to start an inning-ending double play.

In the third, Gary Matthews Jr. singled and Young homered. Later in the inning, Mark Teixeira walked and DeRosa homered for a 4-0 lead.

"He hadn't pitched in awhile, but that's the life of a fifth starter," Macha said. "His breaking pitches didn't come into play as much because he was falling behind."

Komine is the third Hawaiian-born player to play for the A's, joining Ron Darling and Lenn Sakata.