SERIES PREVIEW: Texas Rangers (70-68) @ Oakland Athletics (79-57)

Business First: Well, the Texas Rangers sure put on a suck-fest this weekend. If you watched any of the games, you know that they managed to do a little bit of everything wrong in the three game set against the Cleveland Indians. On Friday, Texas got drummed, 7-2. Vicente Padilla had poor command, and got pulled in the sixth inning after throwing 112 pitches (just 71 for strikes). Jake Westbrook was masterful, holding the Rangers to two runs over seven innings while striking out six en route to the win.

Saturday was a little different, as the Rangers did a little bit right and a whole lot wrong in a 6-5 loss. Edinson Volquez was all kinds of wrong. He lasted just 1.2 innings, surrendering six runs on two homers. One of the homeruns was by rookie infielder Kevin Kouzmanoff, who hit a homerun of the bases-loaded variety. He became just the third major league baseball player to hit a grand slam in his first MLB at-bat, and the first ever to do it on his first pitch. Josh Rupe, Scott Feldman and Rick Bauer did a masterful mop-up job, shutting out the Tribe in 7.1 innings of work. But, Texas’ offense came up just short. Ian Kinsler was thrown out at home in the ninth inning trying to score the tying run. Yet another gaffe by our third base coach, whose name I refuse to even mention.

Texas manage to avoid the sweep today and the bullpen got a much-deserved rest, thanks to the efforts of a still clean-shaven Kevin Millwood. He picked up the win, holding the Indians to one run two hits over eight innings. He also got 10 strikeouts. Cleveland starter Paul Byrd was matching Millwood pitch-for-pitch until the seventh inning, when the Rangers scored all five of their runs. The inning was highlighted by a three-run homer by Mark Teixeira, his 25th of the season. The five runs would be plenty for the Rangers, who went on to win 5-2.

The Lowdown: My, what appropriate timing. Although many of us have given up on the Rangers’ playoff hopes already, the boys in blue now have to travel to Oakland, where our west coast nemesis will have the chance to really put the nail in the coffin. The Rangers sit 10 games out of first place, and lost four out of six to the A’s just last month.

Meanwhile, the A’s find themselves in a very comfortable position with a 7.5 lead over the LAA Angels. They have won seven out of their last nine games, including two out of three against the Rangers, and a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.

Players to Watch:

Frank Thomas - Not just because he’s been a menace to the Rangers this season, but because he’s 38, and this very well may be the last series he ever plays against Texas. This amazing player once looked like a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame, but injuries have left him very much on the bubble. He has a .305 batting average, 2,235 hits and 1,544 RBI. Sadly, even with those great numbers, it’s possible that he will be just as well remembered for his 2001-2005 seasons. In three of those seasons, he played 74 games or fewer, amounting to an average of 85.8 games per season during the span. With that painfull stretch, it’s sometimes hard to remember that he batted for a .321 average over the first 11 years of his career.

Still, there is one stat that may cause him to return for one more year - 478 homeruns. He sits just 22 dingers away from 500, a number that makes him a virtual lock for Cooperstown. In the preceding years, even that number seemed like a great uphill battle to fight. But, he has 30 homeruns this season, with almost a month left to play. Only time will tell if he will return for another season, but for now, just enjoy watching one of the game’s greats in the twighlight of his career.

Probables:

Monday, Sept. 4, 3:05 CST

TEX: RHP Robinson Tejeda (3-3, 6.87)
OAK: LHP Barry Zito (15-8, 3.57)

Can’t we ever miss Zito whenever we face the Athletics? The lefty has more wins against Texas (17) than any other team in his career. In his last start against the Rangers, he took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, on his way to earning his 100th career win. He goes against Tejeda, who got knocked around by the Baltimore Orioles in his last start. He allowed four earned runs in just three innings of work, but still managed to finish August with a 2-0 record and a 3.63 ERA. It’s a big improvement over the 1-3 record and 9.79 ERA he’s sporting for the rest of the season.

Tuesday, Sept. 5, 9:05 CST

TEX: RHP Adam Eaton (4-4, 4.71)
OAK: RHP Kirk Saarloos (7-6, 4.47)

It’s games with starting times like this that makes me hate the fact that the Rangers are in a western division. And this time, the Rangers go against Saarloos, whom I will never forgive the Houston Astros for trading. Starting pitching for a middle reliever in Chad Harville that was never better than mediocre. Good call, ‘Stros. Anyway…Saarloos has struggled this year, but is coming off an undefeated August where he posted a 2.01 ERA. One of those appearances was a four-inning shutout appearance in relief against the Rangers.

The Rangers counter with Adam Eaton, who broke a two game losing streak in his last start by holding the Orioles to two runs (one earned) in five innings of work. He is 2-2 with a 5.94 ERA against A.L. West teams this year, including a loss to Oakland in which he allowed four earned runs in just three innings.

Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2:35 CST

TEX: RHP Vicente Padilla (13-9, 4.35)
OAK: RHP Joe Blanton (14-10, 4.51)

Padilla was hit hard this weekend against Cleveland. Will he turn around and take it out on Oakland by hitting them hard? I sincerely hope the answer is no. After the Frank Francisco fiasco there a in 2004, the last thing we need is another ugly scene in Oakland.

Blanton has gone at least six innings in each of his last seven starts, compiling a record of 4-2, with an ERA of 3.43. He’s one to watch out for, because it seems that he gets the run support even when he isn’t pitching well (like going 4-1 with a 4.55 ERA in July). He is undefeated against Texas in three starts this year, going 2-0 with a 3.57 ERA.