Oakland @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( May 11, 2011 ) Oakland 0, Texas 0

THE STORY: One of baseball's hottest offenses will clash with one of the league's best pitching staffs when the Texas Rangers and Oakland A's begin a four-game series at Rangers Ballpark on Thursday. The Rangers have scored 13 or more runs in three of their past six games, something the Athletics have done only once all season.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), FS Southwest (Texas)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Rich Harden (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Derek Holland (6-4, 5.10). Harden's first start since Sept. 29 went about as well as could have been expected. He held the Diamondbacks to two runs over six innings in a 5-4 win Friday, earning his first win since Aug. 23 when he was pitching for Texas. Harden hasn't faced the Rangers since 2008, but he has had decent success against them, going 5-2 with a 4.21 ERA in 12 games (11 starts). Holland endured the shortest start of his career Saturday against Florida, failing to get out of the first inning and allowing five runs in a 9-5 loss. It was his third loss in his last four starts and he has an 8.05 ERA during that span. In seven games (four starts) against Oakland, Holland is 1-1 with a 2.61 ERA. He didn't get a decision in a 5-4 loss to the Athletics on May 2 but pitched well, allowing two runs over seven innings.

ABOUT THE ATHLETICS (46-42): Oakland continues to struggle to score runs - they have scored two or fewer in 10 of their last 14 games. But third baseman Scott Sizemore did enough by himself Wednesday with a homer and an RBI single in a 2-0 victory over Seattle. The shutout was the fifth of the season for the Athletics, who boast the American League's best team ERA (3.09).

ABOUT THE RANGERS (47-41): Texas regained sole possession of the American League West lead with a 13-5 victory against Baltimore on Wednesday, finishing a three-game sweep of the Orioles and former manager Buck Showalter. Michael Young scored a pair of runs Wednesday, moving him into a tie with Rafael Palmeiro for the franchise record with 958 runs.

FINAL PITCH: The Athletics expect to activate reliever Grant Balfour from the disabled list Thursday. He has not pitched since June 21 because of a right oblique strain. Outfielder Josh Willingham also might come off the DL Thursday after missing 17 games with a strained left Achilles tendon.