The Oakland Athletics’ wild card magic number is now down to two after the Seattle Mariners lost 1-0 to the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. They can whittle it down further later tonight when they face the streaking Texas Rangers who have won 11 of their last 12 games.
Read on for a complete breakdown of this AL West matchup and while you’re at it you can also check out our MLB Free Picks for the five best baseball games of the day.
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Oakland Athletics vs. Texas Rangers Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: Globe Life Park, Arlington
When: September 25, 2014, 8:05 PM ET
Line: Oakland Athletics (-142) at Texas Rangers (+132); total: 8.5 – view all MLB lines
What’s at Stake
[sc:MLB240banner ]The Oakland Athletics are tied with the Kansas City Royals for first place in the American League wild card race with both teams carding 86-72 records. A win over the Rangers tonight coupled with a Mariners defeat will propel them to their third consecutive postseason appearance.
Betting on the Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics are struggling at the worst possible time ahead of their final regular season series matchup with the Texas Rangers.
Oakland dropped their second consecutive game to the Los Angeles Angels, losing 5-4 on Wednesday as their playoff hopes continue to hang in the balance with only four games remaining in the season.
Second baseman Howie Kendrick doubled and drove in three runs as he led the Angels to their first season series win (10-9) over the Athletics in four years.
Oakland starter Jon Lester had a disappointing outing on the mound, allowing five runs on eight hits in seven innings of action. The A’s pitching will need to be better if they are to grab that coveted wild card slot. They will give the ball to Jason Hammel (10-11, 3.54 ERA) in the series opener against the Texas Rangers later tonight.
Hammel, however, is just 1-2 in his last six starts with an ERA of 3.25. In his only start against the Rangers this season, Hammel allowed three earned runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings of work in a 4-1 defeat last July 25th.
He will take heart though with his last meeting with Texas. The 32-year-old was stellar in relief, allowing just three hits while striking out four in three innings of shutout ball last September 18th.
He will need the Oakland hitters to step it up after scoring just four runs in their last two games. Reddick has been one of the few bright spots for the A’s offense hitting 8 of 13 (.615) in his last five games. Also he is 5 for 13 lifetime against Colby Lewis who is the scheduled starter for the Rangers tonight.
The Athletics are just 3-7 in their last 10 away games.
The Rangers’ disappointing 2014 season is about to come to an end but they still have a major role to play in terms of who will end up playing in the coming postseason.
The Oakland Athletics lie in wait for their final series this year and the Rangers will head to that matchup with extreme confidence especially with the way they performed against them a week ago.
Playing without the burden of expectation, the Rangers provided a huge shock by sweeping the A’s 3-0 in their last series. In that series, the Rangers outscored the A’s 19-6 as their starting pitching put the clamps on the A’s offense.
Starters Nick Martinez, Nick Tepesch and Derek Holland were just too dominant for Oakland allowing just four earned runs in 18 innings of action for an impressive 2.00 ERA.
The onus is on Colby Lewis (10-14, 5.34 ERA) then to continue that good streak but the 35-year-old has struggled of late. He is 2-6 in his last eight games with an ERA of 5.02. In his last start against the Angels, he allowed a whopping seven earned runs on nine hits in just five innings of action in an 8-5 defeat.
Interestingly, that defeat is the Rangers’ only loss in their last 12 games. Lewis will be looking to make amends tonight and he will fancy his chances when he faces the reeling A’s.
The Rangers are 7-3 in Lewis’ last 10 starts against Oakland dating back to September 26, 2010. In his only meeting this year against the A’s, Lewis allowed five runs and 10 hits over 5.1 innings in a 14-8 demolition.
The Rangers have been impressive at home lately as well. They are 6-0 in their last six games at Globe Life Park.
Writer’s Prediction
The Athletics (-142) win to snap the Rangers’ four-game winning streak.
