Oakland A’s vs. Texas Rangers Pick

This game is the 2nd of a three-game series, and the A’s won the first game 14-9. They scored 14 runs on 14 hits, and the Rangers scored nine runs on seven hits. Oakland’s Kris Davis had two HR and four RBI in the game. The A’s have won four in a row and six of their last seven games to keep the AL Wild Card lead and the Rangers had won two in a row before losing Game 1 of this series. This season the A’s rank 7th in runs scored and 7th in team ERA and the Rangers rank 10th in runs scored and 22nd in team ERA.

Pitching Match-Up

Oakland: Mike Fiers (14-4 3.97 ERA)
Texas: Mike Minor (13-8 3.08 ERA)

The A’s had won eight in a row with Fiers on the hill before his last start; Which was, by far, his worst one of the season. In his previous outing, he gave up nine earned runs on nine hits, including giving up five HR, in only one inning in a 15-0 loss to the Houston Astros. That start was on the road and in his previous three road starts, all Oakland wins, he only gave up three earned runs in 20 innings. The A’s have won both of Fiers starts against the Rangers this season, and after giving up six earned runs in five innings in his first start against them, he only gave up two earned runs in six innings the last time facing them in late July. In 10 career starts against Texas Fiers is 3-3 with an ERA of 6.23 and has not fared well facing them in five career starts at Globe Life Park in Arlington where he has an ERA of 8.76. The A’s have won seven of his last nine road starts. The Rangers have won Minor’s last two starts where he has only given up two earned runs in 15 1/3 innings. He gave up both of those earned runs in his previous outing on six hits in eight innings in a 10-4 win over the Baltimore Orioles. In the two starts prior to his last two, he gave up ten earned runs in 12 1/3 innings. Minor’s only start of the season against the A’s came on the road on April 22nd where he gave up four earned runs on four hits in six innings in a 6-1 Texas loss. In his career against the A’s, he is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.38. Minor’s last two starts were on the road and in his previous five home starts he has an ERA of 7.00. The Rangers have lost seven of his last eight home starts against teams with a winning record.

Betting Angles

The A’s are 18-6 in their last 24 games against the Rangers.

The A’s are 8-3 in their last 11 road games against the Rangers.

In the last 17 games between these teams, the Over record is 12-5.

In the last 13 games between these teams in Texas, the Over record is 9-3-1.

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Straight Up / Over/Under / Run Line Records

Oakland A’s: 88-60 SU / O/U 67-78 / Run Line W/L 86-62
Texas Rangers: 74-75 SU / O/U 67-78 / Run Line W/L 81-68

Key Betting Trends

• OAK is 4-0 in their last four games
• OAK is 4-0 in their previous four road games
• OAK has an Under record of 7-3 in their last ten road games
• TEX is 6-2 in their last eight games
• TEX is 7-20 in their previous 27 games against a team with a winning record
• TEX has an Under record of 5-3 in their last eight home games

Team Info

With 14 games remaining the A’s are, pretty much, out of the AL West race 7.5 games back of the Houston Astros, who they took three of four games from in their last series. Oakland does hold the AL Wild Card team with three teams vying for two spots, and the A’s are ½ game up on the Tampa Bay Rays and 1.5 games up on the Cleveland Indians. The A’s have scored at least 14 runs in two of their last four games, and their four-game win streak began with a 21-7 win over the Houston Astros on the road. The club hit five HR in the 14-9 win over Texas in Game 1 of this series with Davis going yard twice, and in his last four games, he has three HR and eight RBI. The Rangers are out of the playoff picture and with their loss to Oakland in the first game of this series they fell under .500 on the season. The Texas lineup has been solid as of late, as in their last three games they have totaled 25 runs. The A’s are 9-5 against the Rangers this season.

Key Injuries

A’S 3B Matt Chapman was not in the lineup in Game 1 getting a day of rest and should be in the lineup for this game. OF Stephen Piscotty is on the 10-day DL with an ankle injury and is out for this game. RANGERS 2B Logan Forsythe (ribs) and OF Scott Heineman (illness) were both out of the lineup in Game 1 of this series and both are listed as questionable for Game 2.