Game Thread #26: A's at Rangers

Greetings A's fans!

We should be in for a treat today, as the teams for the AL West lead send their #1 starters to the hill. Sonny Gray vs. Yu Darvish. As far as early season battles go, it doesn't get much better than this.

The A's are coming off of a spilt of a four game series at Houston, losing the last two games with the final game being a two-hit shutout at the hands of Colin McHugh (McWho?). Hopefully Darvish can be the tonic to liven up the A's offense. The A's seem to know how to get to Darvish: Be patient and jump on the rare mistake. Darvish doesn't think so. "Since I just faced them," Darvish said, "it will be easier to plan my game plan." We'll see.

Likewise, Sonny Gray is facing Texas twice in a row. He was pretty solid against the Rangers in his last start, going seven innings and allowing three earned runs. The offense could not get anything going against Martin Perez, who twirled a complete game shutout.

The Rangers just dropped two of three to the Mariners in Seattle, but the good news for them is Matt Harrison is back in the rotation and Adrian Beltre is back at third base. It seems that they have weathered their storm of early season injuries.

Speaking of injuries, Yoenis Cespedes should be available tonight after missing a few games with a hamstring injury.

Whoever takes this series will stand alone atop the AL West come Thursday.

Let's Go Oakland!