Larry Ness
Jun 06 '18, 8:05 PM in 9h
MLB | A's vs Rangers
Play on: A's -110
My Bonus Play is on the Oak A's at 8:05 ET. It's been a brutal start to the 2018 season for the Texas Rangers but after trailing by two runs on Tuesday, they scoring twice in the seventh inning and three times in the eighth en route to a 7-4 victory. The Rangers hit a season-high five HRs in the win, including Adrian Beltre's leadoff shot in the eighth (just his second in 33 contests this season) that snapped the 4-4 tie and Joey Gallo's two-run shot (his 16th of the year) later in the frame that sealed the win in the opener of their six-game homestand.
Shin-Soo Choo's two-run shot in the seventh extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Texas hopes to pick up where it left off in the series opener when the 26-37 Rangers conclude their two-game set against the visiting Oakland A's on Wednesday. Oakland fell to 2-2 on its five-game road trip and to 31-30 on the season. The A's received five of their 10 hits in the loss from Matt Olson (three) and Khris Davis (two). Each player drove in two runs, with Olson raising his RBI total to 11 over his last five games and Davis ending a seven-game drought with his 14th HR of 2018, which gave the A's at least one HR in 18 straight road games.
The pitching matchup features Oakland's Daniel Mengden (6-4, 2.91 ERA) up against the 45-year-old Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.21 ERA) of Texas. Mengden enters riding a four-start winning streak after he allowed three runs on six hits over eight innings of a 7-3 win May 31 against Tampa Bay. He has worked at least seven innings in each of his last three starts and had strung together 16 scoreless innings in two outings before facing the Rays. Mengden fell to 1-2 with a 3.09 ERA in four career starts against Texas after yielding four runs (three earned) in 5 1/3 innings on April 5 in a 6-3 loss. Colon makes his fourth attempt at career victory No. 243, which will tie him with Juan Marichal for most by a pitcher from the Dominican Republic. He lasted only three innings against the Angels in Los Angeles on Friday, as he was battered for six runs and eight hits (including two HRS) en route to his third loss in four decisions. Colon is 9-6 with one shutout and a 3.33 ERA in 22 career starts and one relief appearance versus Oakland, including a no-decision in his season debut on April 2 in which he gave up one run over six frames.
Colon will eventually get win No. 243 (and No. 244, as well), but not here. Mengden went 4-1 with a 1.51 ERA and .181 opponents' batting average in six starts during May and dating back to April 16, he is 5-2 with a 2.01 ERA and .210 opponents' batting average over his last nine starts (A's are 7-2). He has issued just eight walks in 74 1/3 innings and his average of 0.97 walks per nine innings is the lowest in the major leagues. Play Oakland.