A’s look to avoid sweep Wednesday against Rangers

The Oakland Athletics will try to avoid a sweep Wednesday afternoon when they wrap up a three-game series against the Texas Rangers. The A’s dropped the opener Monday 5-3 and were held in check by Max Scherzer in a 6-1 loss Tuesday. Oakland is 2-2 on their current homestand heading into Wednesday’s game.

Austin Pruitt will start Wednesday’s game as an opener, but rookie right-hander Freddy Tarnok is expected to see the bulk of the action. Pruitt has worked as an opener five times this season and the results haven’t been good as he has allowed 11 hits and eight runs in 7 2/3 innings.

The A’s acquired Tarnok from the Atlanta Braves in the three-team trade that sent Sean Murphy to Atlanta. He began the season on the injured list, but has appeared in four games where he has allowed nine hits and eight runs in 10 2/3 innings. Tarnok has issued nine walks and allowed four homers over that span. He allowed three hits and two runs in 2 1/3 innings in his last appearance against the Dodgers.

The Rangers will go with veteran lefty Jordan Montgomery in Wednesday’s finale. Montgomery will be making his second start in a Texas uniform since being acquired at the deadline in a trade with the Cardinals. He looked good in his Rangers debut allowing six hits and two runs over six innings against the Marlins.

The A’s were held to just three hits in Tuesday’s loss and had just five base runners total in the game. Their only run came on a fourth inning home run by JJ Bleday. Bleday has seen an increase in playing time of late, but is just 3-for-24 with two walks and eight strikeouts in seven games in August. Nick Allen had one of those hits and has five hits over his last three games.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Wednesday, August 9, 12:37 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland, California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2