Texas @ Oakland preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 13, 2011 ) Texas 7, Oakland 1

THE STORY: The Texas Rangers have dominated Oakland through the opening two games of their weekend series, and may have the right guy on the mound Sunday as they eye a sweep of the host Athletics. Matt Harrison takes the hill for Texas, and looks to continue his dominance in day games. He'll face veteran lefthander Rich Harden.

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), CS California (Oakland)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Matt Harrison (10-8, 3.06 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Rich Harden (3-2, 4.07).

Afternoons have agreed with Harrison so far this season. The 25-year-old is 4-2 with a minuscule 1.61 ERA in seven matinee starts. He has surrendered only one home run in 44 2/3 innings during the day. He was solid last time out - at night, surrendering two runs on five hits over seven innings in a one-sided victory over Seattle. Harden is coming off his best start of the season, limiting Toronto to a run on five hits over seven innings on the way to a 4-1 triumph. The oft-injured 29-year-old had his worst outing of the year the last time he faced the Rangers, surrendering five runs in five innings. Harden has allowed at least one home run in all seven starts this season.

ABOUT THE RANGERS (68-52): Opening a 10-game road trip with a pair of one-sided victories has Texas riding a wave of momentum. Ian Kinsler has been the catalyst for the Rangers' dominance in Oakland with three hits and four RBIs in the series. Kinsler has been the hottest Texas hitter of late, recording at least one RBI in seven straight games. He has fared well for his career against Harden, going 4-for-6 with a pair of doubles. Ranger hitters are a collective .304 against the Oakland lefthander. Michael Young has the most experiences versus Harden, batting 9-for-33 with a pair of homers.

ABOUT THE ATHLETICS (53-66): Oakland fans saw the best and worst of Jemile Weeks in Saturday's 7-1 beating. The rookie second baseman finished a home run short of the cycle, and added his 13th stolen base of the season. Yet, it was his error on an Endy Chavez grounder that allowed the Rangers to keep the sixth inning alive, and eventually score the game's first run. Weeks finished with two of the Athletics' four errors on the afternoon, giving him 11 miscues in 56 games so far this season. That is the third most among major-league second basemen, even though he has played roughly half the games of co-leaders Rickie Weeks of Milwaukee - his brother - and Atlanta's Dan Uggla.

FINAL PITCH: Texas has outscored Oakland 46-15 during a seven-game winning streak in their head-to-head series.