Nolan Writin' » Rangers vs Athletics

Texas Rangers (16-12) at Oakland Athletics (14-14) Finale Preview

Mon, 02 May 2011 17:21:12 +0000

Matt Harrison had an awful outing yet again and left before he could even complete two innings for the Rangers. Obviously, the Rangers lost and you can read even more about last night’s game in our recap. However, it’s time for the preview for today’s game, which is the final of the four games at the A’s. Will the Rangers be able to bounce back and secure at least a split for this series or will they fall short this afternoon with their No. 4 starter on the mound and give this series up to the Athletics? If they lose this series, they’ll leave behind a ton of confidence heading to Seattle for their next series.

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…)

Texas Rangers (16-11) at Oakland Athletics (13-14) Game 3 Preview

Sun, 01 May 2011 14:18:41 +0000

The Rangers won their second game in six Saturday with 14 combined hits for a score of 11-2 snapping their three game losing streak on the road. The Rangers will look to get two consecutive wins on the road since snapping their losing streak when they start the third of four games at the Overstock.com Coliseum this afternoon at 3:05 p.m. CT.

Michael Young got his first homerun of the season last night. That’s not the only thing that made his April great, though. He has 38 hits for the month of April, which tied his career high that he set back in 2006. In addition, he had 12 doubles, which tied a team record, and 19 RBIs, which wasn’t a team record but a personal career high. Michael currently leads the team in batting average with a .342. Young will look to continue his start of the season success for the month of May. (more…)

Texas Rangers (15-10) at Oakland Athletics (12-13) Game 1 Preview

Fri, 29 Apr 2011 10:00:17 +0000

After suffering a series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Rangers will head to Oakland in hopes of gaining back their momentum that they started this month off with. They will start their four-game series today between a team in their own division, a division in which they currently lead with one win over the LA Angels, which will end on Monday just before they head to Seattle to face the Mariners for a second time this season.

C.J. Wilson (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Rangers may have hit a bit of a slump as of late, but their defense and offense is still stellar. Adrian Beltre, a wonderful offseason addition for the Rangers, has been playing both sides of the plate very well. He made some fantastic plays in Wednesday night’s game against the Blue Jays and he is currently second in both home runs and RBIs in the American League with 7 homers and 20 runs batted in.

Yesterday, Ian Kinsler was all about stealing bases. Elvis Andrus is currently fifth in the AL with four stolen bases but goes up against Oakland’s Coco Crisp who has eight. Michael Young is second with 12 doubles in the AL and Julio Borbon has two triples but Oakland’s Crisp has three. Michael Young is second in hits with 34 for the season so far and Kinsler is tied in fourth for runs with 17. Michael Young is fourth in batting average in the American League with a .347 batting average. And despite the fact that Oakland seems to be right there with them in a couple of the offensive stats, the Rangers are simply better.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at the pitching matchups as well as how the teams have fared against the pitchers they’ll be facing when they get to the plate. (more…)