Oakland @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 27, 2010 ) Oakland 3, Texas 7
In the year of the no-hitter, Rich Harden and the Texas Rangers came close to adding another one.
In his last outing, Harden threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball and the relievers combined for five outs more before losing it in the ninth.
The Rangers would’ve been the sixth team this season to accomplish the feat, joining, among others, Oakland Athletics left-hander Dallas Braden, who threw a perfect game.
On Saturday, Harden takes the hill for the first time since his hitless outing against the Minnesota Twins and will face Braden and the Athletics.
Harden has made just 17 starts this season. Activated off the disabled list prior to his last start on Monday, Harden walked five but struck out six while no-hitting his foe over 6 1/3 innings.
The game makred Harden’s second scoreless outing this season, as he threw seven shutout innings against Oakland on May 13.
Harden, who was originally drafted by the A’s in 2000, will make his third career start against Oakland. He earned the victory on May 13, allowing two hits over seven scoreless innings with no walks and nine strikeouts.
Offensively, the Rangers had six infield hits on Friday, including Vladimir Guerrero's RBI single in the first.
Josh Hamilton had his major league-best 24th game with three or more hits, and has hit safely in seven of his last eight games.
Andres Blanco recorded his second three-hit game of the season, and has a .314 batting average since Aug. 13.
Julio Borbon finished with three hits to mark his fifth game of the season with three or more hits.
The Rangers finished 7-for-15 with runners in scoring position.
Oakland, meanwhile, has lost four of its last six games to fall under the .500-mark for the first time since Aug. 21.
The A’s saw their streak of 18 consecutive games with a quality start come to close on Friday, too, as Brett Anderson lasted only two innings.
Braden has pitched well of late. Although he took the loss against the Tampa Bay Rays, Braden yielded just three runs and four hits in six innings. In his previous two starts, Braden earned the victory, going seven and nine innings, respectively.
Offensively, the A’s had two players, Kurt Suzuki and Rajai Davis, end up with two hits on Friday. The team finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, and left seven men on base.