Game Thread #12: Oakland A’s vs. Texas Rangers

The Oakland A’s are on a winning streak!

The green and gold have taken four in a row, after their latest triumph in the opener of their three-game home series against the Texas Rangers. The evening featured a pitcher’s duel between Texas veteran Lance Lynn and Oakland rookie Jesús Luzardo, until the 9th inning when Stephen Piscotty launched a grand slam to walk it off for Oakland. It was the A’s second walk-off grand slam of the season already, setting an MLB record for doing so just 11 games into the campaign.

Now Oakland will look to make it five in a row, and standing in their way is Rangers starter Kyle Gibson. The right-hander signed a three-year free agent contract last winter for $28 million total, and he’s off on the right foot after working five scoreless innings in his first outing this summer. He faced the A’s twice in 2019 as a member of the Twins, tossing quality starts both times for a total of five runs in 13 innings with a dozen strikeouts, but also a homer by Ramon Laureano.

Oakland counters with Sean Manaea. The lefty has made two starts so far and they’ve both gone the same — unhittable for a few innings, and then unraveling in the 4th and/or 5th. We’ll see if he can stay strong longer into this game, as that will be key to his ability to help the team win when he’s on the mound. In one positive sign, his velocity ticked up to 92 mph last time out, so keep an eye on that tonight.

First pitch is 6:10 p.m., with the following options to watch or listen:

• TV: NBC Sports California
• Radio: 960 AM
• Online video stream: fuboTV
• Online audio stream: iHeartRadio

A’s lineup (home)

1. SS Marcus Semien (R)
2. CF Ramon Laureano (R)
3. 1B Matt Olson (L)
4. 3B Matt Chapman (R)
5. DH Mark Canha (R)
6. LF Robbie Grossman (S)
7. RF Stephen Piscotty (R)
8. 2B Tony Kemp (L)
9. C Austin Allen (L)

• Sean Manaea, LHP

Same as last night, except with Allen catching instead of Sean Murphy (and Kemp up a spot to 8th in the order).

Rangers lineup (away)

1. LF Shin-Soo Choo (L)
2. SS Elvis Andrus (R)
3. RF Joey Gallo (L)
4. 1B Todd Frazier (R)
5. C Robinson Chirinos (R)
6. 2B Nick Solak (R)
7. 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa (R)
8. DH Rob Refsnyder (R)
9. CF Scott Heineman (R)

• Kyle Gibson, RHP

Choo is in there, even against the lefty starter — he’s 4-for-13 with three walks and a homer against Manaea lifetime. Otherwise, the other eight names are the same ones we saw last night.

Let’s Go Oakland!