The top two teams in the American League West are facing off for two games. Who thought it would be Oakland facing the Rangers? (Photo: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE)

The Athletics have surprised quite a bit of people and have held their ground even with Dallas Braden and Brett Anderson not having pitched a game and Yoenis Cespedes now on the disabled list as well. Part of his absence has been filled by the unexpected rise of Brandon Inge who was picked up after getting released by the Detroit Tigers earlier this season.

Probable Starters:

Wednesday 7:05 CDT TEX: RHP Yu Darvish (5-1, 2.84 ERA/3.72 FIP) – OAK: LHP Tom Milone (5-2, 3.92 ERA/4.26 FIP)

Last week, there were two similar pitchers in Darvish and Wilson. Today, two very different pitchers. Darvish is probably as good as advertised right now, and the Rangers would love for him to go far in the game. Last time out, he only went 6 innings in the win, but was very good. Teams are playing tons of left-handed hitters against Yu. Part of that may be the fact that he’s sandwiched by the two lefties, but teams may sense an advantage. But there isn’t a real one.

vs LHH: 125 batters faced .257/.352/.339
vs RHH: 72 batters faced .183/.319/.367

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In his season debut, Milone made history going 8 innings, picking up the win and not getting a single strikeout. His K/9 is now over 5 (still below average), but the biggest story for Milone is his home and away splits. In Oakland, pitch-to-contact pitchers thrive because of the foul territory in the park. At home? 0.39 ERA. On the road? 7.84. His BB/9 almost doubles on the road as well, possibly trying to hit his spots with more urgency.

Of note: In reality, there isn’t much difference between home Milone and road Milone. He has a 3.89 xFIP at home and a 4.55 xFIP on the road. (xFIP is FIP but taking into account the stadium and park effects.)

Thursday 1:05 CDT TEX: LHP Matt Harrison (4-2, 5.11 ERA/4.17 FIP) – OAK: RHP Brandon McCarthy (3-1, 3.38 ERA/2.86 FIP)

Harrison pitched well last time out, just not well enough for the win. Last time, I talked about his groundballs and last time out he only got three in 6 innings. The good news was he only allowed four hits. Harrison seems on the cusp of turning it around and maybe needs a little bit of luck to turn the corner.

Last year, most wrote off former Ranger McCarthy as a fluke. This year, he has almost the exact same numbers across the board. His success is sustainable. Expect a lot of groundballs in this one, which is perfect for a team trying to break out of a mini-slump.

Projected Athletics Lineup

1 2B Jemile Weeks (S)
2 SS Cliff Pennington (S)
3 RF Josh Reddick (S)
4 LF Seth Smith (L) vs RHP // Jonny Gomes vs LHP
5 DH Kila Ka’aihue (L)
6 3B Brandon Inge
7 1B Daric Barton (L)
8 C Kurt Suzuki
9 CF Collin Cowgill

(source MLBDepthCharts)

Hot/Cold (Last 7 Days)

Josh Reddick (Hot-OAK) .370/.469/.778 (10/27), 1 3B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB
Seth Smith (Hot-OAK) .348/.464/.609 (8/23), 3 2B, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB
Daric Barton (Cold-OAK) 2/21 (.095), 1 RBI, 3 BB, 9 K
Jonny Gomes (Cold-OAK) 3/20 (.150/.227/.150), 2 RBI, 2 BB, 7 K
Nelson Cruz (Hot-TEX) .391/.462/.739 (9/23), 2 HR, 7 RBI
Josh Hamilton (Hot-TEX) .385/.452/.885 (10/26), 1 2B, 4 HR, 9 RBI, 4 BB, 10 K
Michael Young (Cold-TEX) .167/.194/.233 (5/30), 2 2B, 1 RBI, 5 K
Adrian Beltre (Cold-TEX) .233/.226/.267 (7/30), 4 RBI, 4 K

For more information on the Angels see FanSided’s Athletics page, Swingin’ A’s.

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“The Dutch Oven” Derek Holland got the start for Texas. Holland was very good, going a full seven innings. Holland allowed eight hits and only three runs (only two of which were earned). The left-hander had a good pitch count on the game as well with 103 over his seven innings.

It was the old guys in the bullpen that lost the game for the Rangers. After Holland left the game the Rangers led 4-3. Arthur Rhodes allowed Oakland to tie the game in the eighth; he allowed a homer from Josh Willingham. Cody Eppley pitched a hit less/scoreless ninth. Darren Oliver gave up the walk-off home run on the first pitch of the 10^th to Hideki Matsui. (more…)

Let’s take a look at our pitching matchups and how the hitters do against the pitchers to see if we can get a hunch on the outcome of today’s game. (more…)