Athletics at Rangers
The Oakland Athletics have taken advantage of a battered pitching staff in their previous two games to extend their winning streak and increase their major-league lead in homers on the road. Oakland seeks its fifth consecutive victory when it visits the Texas Rangers on Wednesday for the third contest of their four-game series.
The Athletics have scored a total of 28 runs in winning the first two contests of the set and rallied from an eight-run deficit on Tuesday, scoring 11 unanswered runs over their final four frames to post a 13-10 win in 10 innings. Stephen Piscotty launched a solo homer in the ninth to forge a tie and Khris Davis belted Oakland's fourth shot of the contest in the 10th, a three-run blast that gave the club 93 home runs away from home this season. Davis, who has hit four of his team-leading 25 homers over the last three games, joined Jed Lowrie - who also went deep - and Marcus Semien with three RBIs as Oakland handed Texas its ninth loss in 11 contests. Elvis Andrus belted his first career grand slam and Joey Gallo also homered in his return to the lineup after missing the series opener with an ankle injury for the Rangers, who squandered a 10-2 lead and have allowed a total of 53 runs in their last four losses.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, NBCS California (Oakland), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Edwin Jackson (1-2, 2.93 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Martin Perez (2-4, 8.05)
Jackson is coming off his second straight loss, both of which came against San Francisco. The 34-year-old journeyman allowed more than two earned runs for the first time on Friday, yielding three along with four hits over 6 1/3 innings at home, but still registered a quality start. Jackson owns a 2-3 record with one shutout and a 4.02 ERA in seven career starts against the Rangers.
After returning from a 2 1/2-month layoff due to an injury to his non-throwing elbow on July 14 with a superb performance in a hard-luck loss at Baltimore, Perez was battered by Cleveland for six runs and 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings but escaped with a no-decision. The 27-year-old Venezuelan has been pounded in two of his three turns at home this year, surrendering 14 runs on 19 hits and six walks over 8 1/3 frames in those outings. Despite yielding 10 hits for the first of three times in his seven turns in 2018, Perez improved to 8-7 with a 5.23 ERA in 17 career starts against the Athletics on April 5, when he limited the damage to three runs over 5 1/3 innings in his season debut.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Athletics recalled RHP Frankie Montas, who allowed four runs in five innings on Tuesday, from Triple-A Nashville and optioned 2B Franklin Barreto to the Sounds.
2. Texas recalled LHP Brandon Mann from Triple-A Round Rock and optioned OF Delino DeShields to the Express.
3. Oakland announced on Tuesday that RHP Kendall Graveman, who last pitched for the team on May 11 before being sent to the minors, will undergo Tommy John surgery and be sidelined for at least a year.