ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers will turn the calendar to the last month of the season as they are next set to take on one of baseball’s most unfortunate teams, both on and off the field.
The eventual Sacramento and maybe eventually Las Vegas Athletics, preparing to play in their last month as residents of the Bay Area, take on a Rangers’ team returning home after sweeping the Chicago White Sox.
The A’s, meanwhile, are fighting to stay out of the basement in the AL West, preferring to leave that spot occupied by the Los Angeles Angels. With a lot of pride for Oakland and history – dubious or otherwise – to be made in this final season, the Rangers will still have their hands full against a team that tends to give them fits no matter the records of the respective teams.
Oakland Athletics (58-76, 4th Place AL West, 14 GB) @ Texas Rangers (63-71, 3rd Place AL West, 9 GB)
Oakland down the stretch
The A’s took a slightly different approach at the trade deadline as a team that knew by the first pitch of the season that this was a lost cause year. Obvious sellers, Oakland traded away one veteran, but also sent out one highly controllable and valuable relief pitcher.
Paul Blackburn was dealt to the Wild Card contending New York Mets for pitching prospect Kade Morris. That was a move telegraphed virtually all season, but it was the trade of Lucas Erceg, a right handed reliever who is not due to be a free agent for another five seasons, to the Royals for three prospects that raised a few eyebrows.
Erceg was acquired by Oakland from the Milwaukee Brewers in 2023, but bullpen help is highly sought after these days, and Erceg, who worked his way into becoming a trusted setup reliever, drew plenty of interest which provided ample value for Oakland on their way out the door.
Will Klein, one of the trio of players acquired for Erceg, might just slot into that same spot next year for the A’s. Klein has spent a majority of his innings in Triple-A, but has flashed a 100-MPH fastball and was sporting a 3.68 ERA in 38 appearances before being traded.
As a team, Oakland is 13-11 since the trade deadline, playing an invigorated brand of baseball as they look to finish not in last place for the first time since the 2021 season. Most recently, they’re coming off winning a series against the Cincinnati Reds and are in the middle of a 13-game stretch between days off as we enter September.
The matchups
Game 135, 7:05 p.m. CT - LHP JP Sears (10-9, 4.35 ERA) vs. RHP Jon Gray (5-5, 4.32 ERA)
Game 136, 6:05 p.m. CT - RHP Joey Estes (6-6, 4.37 ERA) vs. LHP Cody Bradford (4-2, 3.31 ERA)
Game 137, 1:35 p.m. CT - RHP Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.54 ERA) vs. TBD
Oakland sends essentially their most tenured starter JP Sears to kick off the series against Texas. Sears has faced the Rangers twice already this season. He shut them out over 6 ½ innings the first time they met, but Texas touched him up for four runs on eight hits in 5 ⅔ innings a few weeks later. Most recently, a poor outing against the Brewers ruined an otherwise nice month of August for the 28-year old lefty. He gave up seven runs in 3 ⅔ innings of work in that outing.
Oakland will also turn to two rookies on the hill in this series with Joey Estes and Mitch Spence getting the call. Estes avoided the Rangers the last two times through and has had a decent August, pitching to a 3.03 ERA in 29 ⅔ innings, including a two-hit, two-run outing against Milwaukee last time out.
The last time that the Rangers saw Spence was when he was in a long relief capacity back in April. The 26-year old kept the Rangers to one run over three innings of relief. He moved to the rotation in mid-May and has pitched to a 4.61 ERA over 18 starts.
The Rangers’ Jon Gray will look to bounce back from a terrible return outing last time against the Cleveland Guardians. Gray gave up seven runs in two innings in his first start since coming back from reaggravating a groin injury that kept him out for much of August. He last saw the Athletics in May, holding them to one run over five innings.
Cody Bradford is in a stretch of several hard-luck losses, a trend among starters for Texas this season, as he allowed three runs in seven innings in a loss to the Pirates before holding the Guardians to one run in six innings in a loss. Bradford has pitched well, similar to what he was doing before going on the injured list in April.
The starter for the finale could depend on who the Rangers decide to bring up – the advent of September allows for teams to call up an additional two extra players as rosters expand.
Texas has another golden chance to take a series here, but they can’t underestimate the sneaky power of the Athletics. Avoiding Mason Miller in the back end of the A’s bullpen is also paramount. Miller could have been traded away for a pretty penny, but the franchise soon-to-be-formerly-known-as-the-Oakland-Athletics know what they have in their high octane All-Star closer.
Do you think the Rangers will make it two series in a row as they face AL West rival Oakland? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
