Texas Rangers (23-14) vs. Oakland Athletics (8-31)
May 13, 2023 4:07 pm EDT
The Line: Oakland Athletics -105 / Texas Rangers -116; Over/Under: +8
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The Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics meet Saturday in MLB action from O.co Coliseum. This will be the third installment in a four-game weekend series. The Rangers took a shutout win on Thursday, then in the Friday game two the A’s posted a two-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers didn’t score until the fifth inning in the Thursday opener of this series, but eventually ended up with a 4-0 shutout. On Friday in game two Texas took a 7-5 edge in the top of the 10th but eventually fell 9-7. Martin Perez lasted 5.0 innings in the start with four earned on eight hits and two walks.
For the starter job in the Saturday game, the Rangers will send out Jon Gray. This year over his seven starts Gray is 2-1 with a 3.82 ERA and 27 strikeouts over 37.2 innings. Gray is 62-57 with a 4.48 ERA over 183 career games (182 starts).
Oakland Athletics
Over on the Oakland side, they were only able to muster three team hits in the Thursday opener of this series. On Friday the A’s recorded 14 team hits (and gave up 12) in the win. Starter Ken Waldichuk put up 5.0 innings with three earned on seven hits and five walks.
JP Sears will make the start for the A’s on Saturday. Across seven starts this season Sears is 0-3 with a 5.54 ERA and 38 strikeouts over 37.1 innings. Sears is 6-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 24 career games (18 starts).
The Rangers are 6-1 in their last seven in game three of a series and 3-7 in their last 10 road games versus a left-handed starter. The over is 5-1 in Texas’ last six Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the A’s are 28-65 in their last 93 at home and 13-39 in their last 52 overall. Oakland is 1-6 in their last seven Saturday games.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stick with the Rangers here. Gray had an up-and-down outing versus Arizona back on May 2, but he did well versus the Mariners in his last outing. Gray put up 7.0 innings with one earned on four hits and no walks during a victory there. On Friday Texas had the game in hand late and did a pretty solid job outside of the rough pithing performance. I like the Rangers to bounce back in game three.
