Oakland @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 8, 2010 ) Texas 2, Oakland 3
The Texas Rangers made one of the biggest trades of the season, acquiring Cliff Lee from the Seattle Mariners.
And the Rangers, who lost for the third consecutive time with Lee starting on Thursday night, are still looking at ways to upgrade the team, including the possibility of claiming Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Manny Ramirez off waivers.
Regardless of whether the Rangers make another move or not, they are still the clear favorites in the American League West. The Rangers will try to extend their 8 1/2-game lead, as they host the Oakland Athletics in a three-game series beginning Friday night.
The Rangers had a four-game winning streak snapped Thursday, falling to the Minnesota Twins in a four-game series finale. They will look to right-hander Tommy Hunter to help the club rebound.
Oakland, which also lost on Thursday, will counter with left-hander Brett Anderson.
In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, Hunter went eight innings, allowing three runs on five hits with no walks and no strikeouts.
It was the first time in more than four years that a pitcher went at least eight innings and didn’t record a walk or strikeout. The only other Rangers pitcher to do that was Jon Matlack on May 11, 1979, against Toronto.
Still, Hunter has pitched well of late, allowing three or less runs in 12 of his 15 starts this season. Lifetime against the A’s, Hunter is 2-0 with a 6.00 ERA in three starts.
The Rangers’ bullpen has got an added boost from left-hander Michael Kirkman, who has thrown five shutout innings to begin his major league career. He worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings on Thursday.
Offensively, David Murphy had an RBI single in the seventh, giving him 10 RBIs over his last 15 games. Andres Blanco, who has started 14 straight games, added a sacrifice fly in the seventh and Vladimir Guerrero belted a two-out, two-run home run in the eighth inning. Guerrero has homered in back-to-back games, and has eight RBIs over his last six games.
Guerrero has yet to get a hit off Anderson, going 0-for-3 in his career.
Anderson has pitched well of late for Oakland. In his last start against Tampa Bay on Saturday, he went seven innings, allowing two runs on eight hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. Anderson left the game with a lead, but the bullpen couldn’t make it stand.
In four career starts against the Rangers, Anderson is 1-1 with a 4.03 ERA.
The A’s managed only two runs on Thursday. Kevin Kouzmanoff and Gabe Gross each had an RBI as Oakland finished the game 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.