ARLINGTON, Texas — This weekend marks the second turn through the division for the Texas Rangers, and it starts with the Rangers’ first visit of the season to the Oakland Coliseum where they will face the last place Oakland Athletics to conclude their West Coast road trip.
The Rangers have already gone 8-4 against the division – including winning two of three against the A’s in Arlington last month – and will have a lengthy stay in Oakland for a four-game set before finally returning home on Monday.
Here’s what you can expect in the road trip’s final act:
Where Oakland is coming from
The last time the Rangers and A’s played each other in April, Texas unexpectedly lost the opener 5-4, rebounded in a big way in the middle game for an 18-3 win, and then sealed the series with a 5-2 finale victory. Since then, Oakland is 4-11 and have most recently been swept by the Yankees in New York. In that time frame, the A’s have scored 72 runs and allowed 111.
On the season, Oakland is a paltry 8-30, already a full 15 games behind the Rangers in the AL West standings. In addition to being swept by New York, Oakland also lost the finale in Kansas City, which accounts for their current four-game losing streak.
Ramon Laureano, on the IL when Oakland came through town, only got to play in nine games when he came back before running into a wall in the first inning of the series opener against the Yankees. He’s considered day-to-day and on concussion protocol.
Things to watch for
- Game 37: 8:40 PM CT - RHP Nathan Eovaldi (4-2, 3.22 ERA) vs. TBD
- Game 38: 8:40 PM CT - LHP Martin Perez (4-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. LHP Ken Waldichuk (1-2, 7.25 ERA)
- Game 39: 3:07 PM CT - RHP Jon Gray (2-1, 3.82 ERA) vs. LHP JP Sears (0-3, 5.54 ERA)
- Game 40: 3:07 PM CT - LHP Andrew Heaney (2-3, 5.25 ERA) vs RHP Drew Rucinski (0-3, 8.16 ERA)
Oakland does not have a starter listed for the opener against Texas. It’s technically lefty Ken Waldichuck’s turn in the rotation, but the A’s opted to give him an extra day of rest. Phenom Mason Miller is also a reason for the uncertainty of the Oakland rotation as he was shut down with a flexor muscle issue in his right elbow.
Oakland could opt to hand the ball back to Shintaro Fujinami, who pitched an inning of relief against Kansas City on Sunday. Fujinami was knocked around by Texas in the middle game of the last series, giving up eight earned runs in only 2 ⅓ innings of work. He has since been demoted to the bullpen, but Fujiinami remains the A’s most likely option.
The rest of the series lines up with Waldichuk on Friday, JP Sears going Saturday, and Drew Rucinski closing out the series. Sears is the only one of that trio that the Rangers saw in the series earlier in the year. In that game, Sears gave up four runs and five hits in six innings of work, which doesn’t sound great but it ended up being a solid outing for the second year starter.
The four runs that Sears allowed all came in the first inning of that game. The lefty then went on to befuddle Texas by striking out eleven Rangers over the next five innings. He effectively shut down the offense single-handedly as Oakland worked on a surprising comeback.
Rangers of note
Nathan Eovaldi takes his big league best 20-inning scoreless streak into The Coliseum in the opener for Texas. In his career, Eovaldi is 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA in Oakland. Against the A’s overall, Eovaldi is 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA.
Rangers batters Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim each take their 9-game hitting streaks into Oakland. Lowe hits really well at Oakland; in 18 games, the Rangers’ first baseman has slashed .313/.395/.627 with five homers and thirteen RBI. In 39 games against the A’s overall, Lowe has a .312/.417/.536 line with seven homers and 22 RBI.
This represents another series against a struggling team for Texas which means an opportunity to build on their lead in the AL West. Unfortunately, so far, the Rangers haven’t made the most of those chances as they’ve played in 12 games against teams with a sub-.420 winning percentage and have gone just 7-5 in those contests.
Texas also hasn’t historically played well in Oakland; the offense will need to keep the foot on the gas, and the bullpen will need to rely on its recent momentum from the series in Seattle for the Rangers to win games that they should this weekend.
Do you think the Rangers will take care of business in Oakland? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.