Athletics at Rangers
After about a week-long stretch in which they struggled to score, the Oakland Athletics rediscovered their offense toward the end of last week. The Athletics stand a fair chance of staying relatively hot at the plate following a day off when they visit the Texas Rangers for the first of two games Tuesday.
Oakland amassed 27 runs en route a four-game sweep in Toronto from May 17-20 before cooling off in a big way upon returning home, totaling 15 runs during a 3-6 stretch that included a pair of shutout losses. The Athletics' bats reawakened against Tampa Bay in the final contest of their 10-game homestand and carried that momentum over into a weekend visit to Kansas City, where Oakland outscored the Royals 25-6 to take two of three. The Rangers rank 24th in the majors in team ERA (4.74) entering Monday and haven't helped their cause at the plate either lately, scoring five runs while dropping three of four. Texas went 2-for-24 with runners in scoring position over the weekend to lose two of three against the Los Angeles Angels.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Oakland), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics LH Sean Manaea (5-6, 3.60 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Matt Moore (1-5, 7.85)
Manaea continued his recent struggles in Wednesday's loss to Tampa Bay, giving up a home run for the sixth straight start while surrendering four runs on five hits across five innings. After going 4-1 with a 1.00 ERA in five April starts, the Indiana State product went 1-4 with a 7.18 mark in six May outings - recording only one quality start during the month. Shin-Soo Choo and Joey Gallo have each homered in seven at-bats against Manaea, who beat Texas on April 4 with eight innings of one-run ball.
Moore came off the disabled list after recovering from a sore right knee and was only marginally better than he was prior to the stint, permitting five runs (four earned) while striking out six over 5 1/3 innings during Wednesday's no-decision at Seattle. The 28-year-old Floridian has produced only one quality start in 10 tries this season and went 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA in May. Jed Lowrie has doubled twice in seven at-bats versus Moore, who yielded three runs in five frames in another no-decision against Oakland on April 23.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Athletics have belted a majors-best 53 home runs in 30 road games versus 22 homers in 30 home contests - good for 28th.
2. Texas SS Jurickson Profar has four triples in 195 at-bats this season, one more than he had over the first 633 at-bats of his career entering 2018.
3. Oakland 1B Matt Olson is 6-for-15 with four homers, nine RBIs and six runs scored over the last four games.