Oakland @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( May 21, 2013 ) Oakland 1, Texas 0

The Oakland Athletics can further tighten up the American League West race if they can complete a three-game sweep of the host Texas Rangers with a win in Wednesday’s series finale. Oakland won the opener 9-2 before downing Rangers ace Yu Darvish 1-0 on Tuesday. Yoenis Cespedes homered and Dan Straily pitched seven superb innings as the Athletics won their fifth straight game. Texas leads Oakland by 4 1/2 games.

The Rangers have recorded only two runs and nine hits in the first two games of the series after scoring 62 runs in their previous nine contests. Adrian Beltre is 0-for-7 in the series after going 8-for-13 over the previous three games. Elvis Andrus and Mitch Moreland each struck out three times on Tuesday. Andrus is hitless in eight at-bats in the series. Ross Wolf will be making his first major-league start for the Rangers after Nick Tepesch was scratched due to a blister on his right middle finger. Cespedes has two homers in the last three games to increase his total to nine after a slow start that included missing two-plus weeks in April due to a hand injury.

TV: 2:05 p.m. ET, CSN California (Oakland), FSN Southwest (Texas)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Jarrod Parker (2-5, 6.04 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Ross Wolf (NR)

Parker has put together back-to-back solid outings after a sluggish start. He settled for a no-decision against the Kansas City Royals in his last outing despite giving up only one run and four hits in seven innings. Parker has allowed nine home runs in 47 2/3 innings after giving up just 11 in 181 1/3 frames last season. He went 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in three starts against the Rangers in 2012.

Wolf will be recalled from Triple-A Round Rock prior to the game to make his first big-league appearance since 2010. He made 14 relief appearances for the Marlins in 2007 and pitched in 11 contests for the Athletics in 2010. Wolf’s career ERA is 7.92 in 25 innings. He was released from the Baltimore Orioles organization last month and went 1-1 with a 1.85 ERA in six starts for Round Rock.

WALK-OFFS

1. Tuesday’s 1-0 game was the 13th at Rangers Ballpark since it opened in 1994.

2. Athletics closer Grant Balfour is 9-for-9 in save opportunities and has converted 27 straight dating back to last season.

3. Rangers OF Nelson Cruz was hitless in nine at-bats against Parker last season.

PREDICTION: Athletics 10, Rangers 8