ARLINGTON, Texas — One week after returning from the West Coast and a road trip they’d rather forget, the Texas Rangers (66-46, 1st Place AL West) embark out to California again in much higher spirits, this time for a two-for-one special by the Bay.
Texas will first take on the hapless Oakland Athletics (31-81, 5th Place AL West) for three games before crossing the Bay Bridge for a meeting at Oracle Park against the San Francisco Giants.
It’s been nearly three months since the Rangers last saw the A’s in a four-game set from Oakland Coliseum that Texas claimed three games to one. Since that time, not much has improved for Oakland, although they have hit the 30-win threshold that had seemed a dubious proposition after they started the season 10-45.
While Texas has frequently had bad luck at the A’s derelict ballpark in Alameda County, this would be a great time for the Rangers to continue their winning streak and sweep another series.
Oakland at the deadline
For very prominently being sellers, even before the season started, the Oakland Athletics didn’t make a lot of noise at the deadline. They acquired a few prospects from the Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a couple of pitchers. Their most notable transaction was sending pitcher Shintaro Fujinami to the Baltimore Orioles for a pitching prospect.
Since the deadline, Oakland has been swept by the Dodgers before splitting a brief two-game set against their Bay neighbors from San Francisco. The most newsworthy inactions by the Athletics, though, are that outfielders Tony Kemp and Ramon Laureano didn’t move, despite their names being brought up in trade rumors. Laureano, in fact, was designated for assignment by the club before Saturday’s opener against the Giants.
Laureano had battled through several injuries in his tenure in Oakland after a breakout 2019 season. He also got hit with an 80-game PED suspension in 2021 that did the A’s no favors as they attempted a fourth consecutive playoff season. Since then, the 29-year old Dominican with a plus arm in the outfield has struggled to regain the effectiveness and explosiveness that made him a favorite in Oakland. On the year, Laureano played in 64 games and slashed .213/.280/.364 with six homers and 21 RBI.
Oakland will now rely on a returning Esteury Reuiz, JJ Bleday, and Brent Rooker to man the outfield, as the Athletics are well into a journey of rebuilding with a very young and inexperienced roster.
The matchups
Game 113: 8:40 PM CT - RHP Dane Dunning (9-4, 3.14 ERA) vs. LHP Ken Waldichuk (2-7, 6.52 ERA)
Game 114: 8:40 PM CT - RHP Max Scherzer (10-4, 4.04 ERA) vs. LHP JP Sears (2-8, 4.07 ERA)
Game 115: 2:37 PM CT - LHP Jordan Montgomery (7-9, 3.40 ERA) vs. TBD
On the Oakland side, the Rangers will not see veteran Paul Blackburn or rookie Luis Medina. They are the two pitchers that faced the Giants over the weekend. They will face lefties Ken Waldichuk and JP Sears in the first two of these three games. Waldichuk last pitched against the Dodgers last Tuesday and Sears faced them in the finale of that series on Wednesday. Between those two games, Oakland had a bullpen game which might end up being their fate in the finale of this series as well.
Sears has faced the Rangers twice, once in April and once in May. His most notable performance was the one in May, where, after allowing four runs to the Rangers early, he went on to strike out 11 hitters in a no-decision, although the A’s would win that game 5-4 in the debut of the City Connect jerseys for Texas. His next outing in Arlington also did not yield a decision, as he gave up three runs, two earned, and struck out six in a game the Rangers would eventually win 11-3.
Waldichuk faced Texas in May in Oakland, going five innings and allowing four runs, three earned, in the one game that Oakland came out on top in that four-game set.
Texas, meanwhile, will do Oakland no favors by sending the cream of the crop of their rotation at the also-rans, starting with Dane Dunning. Dunning most recently went 7 ⅔ innings against the White Sox, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out 11, a career high. Notable from his start was that new defensive specialist catcher acquisition Austin Hedges came on late in Dunning’s start and the next five batters the righty faced all struck out.
Max Scherzer dons the Texas colors for the second time this season, and the road grays for the first time, as he takes the ball on Tuesday night. Scherzer’s first game with Texas started out with some control issues against the White Sox, but ended with nine strikeouts and just three runs – all of which came in the first inning.
Remarkably, despite a 16-year big league career, this will be only the sixth appearance at Oakland Coliseum for Scherzer. Although he is sporting a 12.0 K/9 rate at the ballpark, he has a career ERA of 4.30 in 29 ⅓ innings against the A’s at their park. Those teams, however, were nothing like the team that Scherzer is going to face on Tuesday.
Jordan Montgomery will take his second turn in the Rangers rotation in the finale on Wednesday afternoon. Montgomery gave up two runs in his debut outing against the Marlins, scattering six hits and striking out six to earn the win. This is Montgomery’s third appearance at the Coliseum, having given up four earned runs in 11 ⅔ total innings.
Like all good teams, a series against the Athletics should be marked down as at least a series win. You don’t play the games on paper though, and the Rangers are playing to just a .500 record on the road this season. They’ve got the right pitchers going on the mound, though, and the offense seems to have perked back up as they averaged 6.5 runs per game during their clean sweep homestand.
Do you think the Rangers will build upon their AL West lead during this series in Oakland? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.
