A’S SERIES PREVIEW: VS. TEXAS

A’s update:

Oakland’s final home series sees the club struggling to avoid a repeat finish in the American League West cellar. The A’s and Los Angeles Angels were 66-86 with the Anaheim crew playing Thursday night at Houston. Oakland opened its final homestand by getting swept in three games by the Astros in the wake of the team’smost successful trip of the season, 6-1. Friday starter Graveman has allowed 12 earned runs in his last two starts, but has been the A’s top starter for much of the year (9-4, 3.78 in his last 20 starts). The A’s offense produced only 13 hits in the first 28 innings of this homestand. Oakland is last in the league in runs (623), onbase percentage (.305), slugging percentage (.396) and OPS (.700). Khris Davis has missed the last two games because of illness, but he comes into the series with 10 of his 40 homers and 19 of his 99 RBIs against Texas.

Rangers update:

This might not be the most important series of the season for Texas, but Friday night is the first time the Rangers will have a chance to clinch the American League West. The Rangers have had trouble with the A’s this year, winning half of the first 16 meetings. When the Rangers have won, it frequently has been dramatic. Texas has scored walk-off wins three times, including the A’s only loss on the last trip when the Rangers scored two in the bottom of the ninth.