An entertaining Friday night awaits you in the MLB, as the Oakland Athletics (60-80) and the Texas Rangers (73-66) open up a three-game set at Globe Life Park. The A’s will be looking to end their disappointing season on a good note. The Rangers, on the other hand, continue their push for a postseason spot by trying to avoid their third consecutive loss tonight. Who takes home the glory in Game 1?
Read on further for a detailed preview of this AL West showdown. And if you’re craving for other sports action, check out our US Open semifinal tennis action previews featuring Novak Djokovic vs. Marin Cilic and Roger Federer vs. Stan Wawrinka.
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Oakland Athletics vs. Texas Rangers Preview
Where: Globe Life Park in Arlington, Arlington, TX
When: Friday, September 11, 8:05 PM ET
Line: Oakland Athletics (+135) vs. Texas Rangers (-150); total: 9.5—View all MLB Lines
Betting on the Oakland Athletics
After winning the first two meetings of their three-game set with the Astros, the Oakland Athletics failed to complete the sweep last night as they were handed the 11-5 loss. The A’s now look to Jesse Chavez, who is 7-14 with a 4.17 ERA on the season, in leading them when they pay the Texas Rangers a visit for Game 1 of their three-game series this evening.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Short and terrible. That basically summarizes how Chavez fared in his most recent start. He surrendered five earned runs on six hits in just two innings for the eventual 8-3 defeat versus the Mariners on September 5. Moreover, the 32-year-old righty has been flat out awful on the road, holding a 2-8 mark with a miserable ERA of 4.95, a 1.44 WHIP and .282 opponents’ batting average through 15 games (13 starts).
With Chavez’ struggles likely to continue, it’s going to be crucial for the A’s offense—that averages 4.19 runs per game this year—to provide some timely contributions at the plate.
Expect center fielder Billy Burns, who holds a team-best .297 batting average, to light up the plate for the A’s. Burns is 8-for-19 with a homer and four RBIs in his previous four outings and has had much success against Texas, hitting .316 (12-for-38) across eight career games.
Oakland is 4-6 in its last 10 contests with Chavez starting.
Having lost their last two games, the Texas Rangers are now just hanging onto a one game lead over the Twins for the second wild card spot in the American League. The Rangers will look to prevent themselves from conceding their current position when they hand the ball to Colby Lewis (14-8, 4.68 ERA) later versus the Oakland Athletics.
Lewis, who’ll get his fourth try at a career-best 15th win tonight, is hoping to finally wake up from a nightmare stretch in his previous three starts. During that stretch, he’s gone 0-3 with an ERA of 8.62, while allowing his opponents to bat .343 off him. But the 36-year-old veteran seems to be on track for a promising performance as he’s pitched well opposite the A‘s, owning a 9-4 record with a 3.08 ERA and 1.22 WHIP against them throughout his career.
Over on offense, all the focus will be on the hard-hitting Prince Fielder, who leads Texas in batting (.308), RBIs (73), OBP (.379) and hits (160) this season. Fielder is only 2-for-11 in his past three contests; however, he’s gotten the best out of the A’s starter, Jesse Chavez, batting 5-for-9 lifetime with a homer and two RBIs against the righty.
