Oakland @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 14, 2011 ) Texas 7, Oakland 6
THE STORY: There is only one real race left in the major leagues and the Texas Rangers happen to be sitting right in the middle of it. The Los Angeles Angels keep hanging around in the American League West, drawing within 2 1/2 games after being seven out a few weeks ago. The Rangers have been muddling around playing sub-.500 baseball over the last 20 games or so, keeping things interesting for the rest of the sport. This may be the weekend that Texas has a chance to pull away. With the Angels off to play the New York Yankees, the Rangers get to face an Oakland Athletics team that they have beaten eight straight times. Texas will be looking to make it nine in a row when it sends Colby Lewis to the mound in the opener of a three-game series in Arlington on Friday night.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, CSCA (Oakland), KTXA (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Colby Lewis (11-10, 4.32 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Brandon McCarthy (8-7, 3.41 ERA).
Lewis has been getting lit up recently, allowing a total of 16 runs in 15 1/3 innings over his last three outings. The righthander leads the American League with 32 home runs allowed in 175 innings. Lewis’ last win came against Oakland on Aug. 13 and he has handled the Athletics well in his career, posting a 6-3 record with a 3.12 ERA in 16 games - 14 starts.
McCarthy is coming off his first shutout of the season last Saturday, when he held the Mariners to three hits while striking out 10. The tall righthander has posted three quality starts in a row while working into the eight inning in each turn. McCarthy has not been as sharp against his former team, going 0-1 with a 5.28 ERA in three starts against the Rangers this season.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (81-63): The schedule lines up nicely for Texas the rest of the month, with three at home against the Cleveland Indians and then nine straight against Oakland and Seattle before finishing up the regular season with three at Los Angeles. The Rangers are hoping those last three will be meaningless. Lately, it has been feast or famine with the offense. They have averaged nine runs in their last four wins while struggling to just over three on average in the last four losses. After scoring two late runs to force extra innings on Wednesday at Tampa Bay, Texas was let down by its bullpen in a 5-4 loss. Mark Lowe surrendered a walk-off homer in the 10th. Ian Kinsler hit a pair of home runs in the loss and has homered seven times in the last seven games.
ABOUT THE ATHLETICS (65-78): Oakland has been playing well of late, winning five of its last seven to stave off mathematical certainty of a losing season for at least a few more days. Guillermo Moscoso took a no-hit bid into the eighth inning of Wednesday’s 7-0 win over the Kansas City Royals, continuing a recent hot stretch that likely locked up his place in the 2012 rotation. Moscoso set an Oakland record by retiring 30 straight batters between his start against the Royals and the previous one against Seattle. Rookie Jemile Weeks had four hits on Wednesday and is 7-for-10 with three RBIs in his last two games.
FINAL PITCH: Coco Crisp, who had missed the previous three games with a bruised right foot, returned to the lineup for the Athletics on Wednesday and became the 10th player in Oakland history to reach the 40-steal plateau when he took third in the first inning.