Series Preview: Texas Rangers (93-66) @ Oakland Athletics (91-68)

After a very up and down home stand, the Rangers travel to finish out the regular season in Oakland. They are one win away from clinching the division for the third straight year; they’ve already clinched a playoff berth by defeating Los Angeles on Sunday night.  Game one of the series will be crucial in helping keep the team on a stable track. Starter Martin Perez will have a serious task in front of him in game one: go as deep into the game as possible and keep the offense in a position to win and get the division in hand as quickly as possible.

Note: Adrian Beltre apparently aggravated a shoulder injury in Sunday’s game one and was taken out of game two after a diving play left him hurting. He said afterwards that he’s not injured and will tough out any pain in order to stick with his team and help them get the division.

Series at a Glance:

      Texas Record: 93-66 (1st AL West)
Oakland Record: 91-68 (2nd AL West, 2 GB)

Season Series: 8-8 tied
Record at Oakland: 2-5

Notable Transaction: On August 31, 1992, in the middle of a game, the A’s traded OF Jose Canseco to the Texas Rangers for Rubén Sierra, Jeff Russell, and Bobby Witt.

Probable Starters:

Monday 9:05 – TEX: LHP Martin Perez (1-3, 5.03 ERA/4.28 FIP) vs. RHP Jarrod Parker (12-8, 3.44 ERA/3.34 FIP)

Tuesday 9:05 – TEX: LHP Matt Harrison (18-10, 3.26 ERA/4.04 FIP) vs. LHP Travis Blackley (5-4, 3.91 ERA/4.09 FIP)

Wednesday 2:35 – TEX: RHP Ryan Dempster (12-8, 4.64 ERA/4.18 FIP) vs. RHP A. J. Griffin (7-1, 2.71 ERA/3.81 FIP)

Lineups:

Starters

1. CF Coco Crisp
2. DH Seth Smith vs RHP
3. RF Josh Reddick
4. LF Yoenis Cespedes 
5. 1B Brandon Moss vs RHP
6. 3B Josh Donaldson 
7. SS Stephen Drew
8. C Derek Norris
9. 2B Cliff Pennington vs RHP

Bench

1. C George Kottaras  
2. 1B Daric Barton 
3. 1B Chris Carter vs LHP
4. 2B Jemile Weeks
5. IF Brandon Hicks   
6. IF Adam Rosales vs LHP
7. OF Collin Cowgill 
8. OF Jonny Gomes vs LHP 

Bullpen

1. CL RHP Grant Balfour
2. SU RHP Ryan Cook 
3. SU LHP Sean Doolittle
4. MID RHP Pat Neshek
5. MID LHP Jerry Blevins   
6. MID LHP Pedro Figueroa
7. MID RHP Jim Miller
8. MID RHP Evan Scribner
9. MID RHP Jeremy Accardo 
10. MID RHP Tyson Ross 
11. LR RHP Jesse Chavez

**(source MLBDepthCharts)

For more information on the Athletics, please visit their FanSided page at Swingin’ A’s.