C.J. Wilson gets to pitch from the friendly confines of Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. We get to Lawyerball the heck out of him. Wilson who may be the most reviled of our rivals these days, has a 3.13 ERA and 3.33 FIP in his 201 innings of work for Texas while putting up 8.0 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. I can't stand the guy and I hope everyone here shares that sentiment, so let's get a win today.
Helping out our cause with trying to ensure victory is Josh Outman who takes the hill in a spot start to allow Rich Harden some additional rest. Outman has some decent numbers on the year: 3.23 ERA, 3.65 FIP with 5.6 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 over 53 innings. The southpaw will look to neutralize a pretty potent Rangers lineup in a tough place to pitch as the A's go for a rare series win in Texas. An A's loss today will statistically eliminate them from the playoff hunt. So the 16 game winning streak coupled with a 16 game Rangers losing streak needs to start today.
Care of Baseball Press, today's lineups: