The A’s are off to face the toughest team in their division, and possibly the toughest team in all of baseball.  The Texas Rangers (47-29) not only have the best record in all of baseball, but they are 14-6 over their last 20 games.

The last time the A’s faced the Rangers was earlier this month and not a lot has chanced since then, they are still the scariest best offensive team in baseball.  The Rangers lead the entire league in runs scored (395), OBP (.344) and in SLG% (.458).

Thursday 5:05 PM PST: (RHP) Tyson Ross (2-7) Vs (RHP) Scott Feldman (1-6)

• Tyson Ross has replaced the injured Bartolo Colon and in his last start only lasted 5.1 innings against the San Francisco Giants, allowing 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out 3.  Ross has not faced the Rangers this season yet, but has a 1-3 record on the road over 6 games this season with a 7.12 ERA and a .381 BABIP.
• Scott Feldman collected his first win of the season in his last start which was against the San Diego Padres, over 6 innings he allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and no walks while striking out 5.  Feldman has faced the A’s once this season, he allowed 8 runs on 7 hits and 1 walk over 1.2 innings of work.

Friday 5:05 PM PST: (RHP) A.J. Griffin (0-0) Vs (LHP) Matt Harrison (10-3)

• A.J. Griffin made his MLB debut last Sunday against the San Francisco Giants, he lasted 6 innings, allowed 3 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and struck out 4 while his only mistake being a 2-run home run to Buster Posey in the first inning.
• Matt Harrison collected his 10th win of the season in his last start against the Colorado Rockies.  Over 5 innings he allowed 5 hits, 0 runs, walked 2 and struck out 3.  Harrison has faced the A’s once this season, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks and striking out 3.

Saturday 3:15 PM PST: (LHP) Tom Milone (8-5) Vs (RHP) Justin Grimm (1-1)

• Tom Milone is coming off of his best road start of the season, shutting out the Mariners over 7 innings while allowing 7 hits, no walks and striking out 5.  Milone has faced the Rangers once this season (in Arlington) allowed 4 runs on 9 hits and 4 walks over 7 innings of work.
• Justin Grimm will be making his 3rd start of the season on Saturday.  In his last start he faced the Detroit Tigers and only lasted 1 plus inning while allowing 6 runs on 8 hits and 1 walk.

Sunday 3:05 PM PST: (RHP) Travis Blackley (1-2) Vs (RHP) Yu Darvish (10-4)

• It was another strong start for Travis Blackey and another no decision in his last outing.  Blackley held the Seattle Mariners to 2 runs over 7 innings while only allowing 5 hits, walking 1 and striking out 3.  He has faced the Rangers once this season (at home) and allowed 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks over 4.2 innings.
• Yu Darvish struck out 10 in his last start, he lasted 7 innings against the Detroit Tigers while allowing 4 hits, 4 runs and walking 1 to collect his 10th win of the season.  Darvish has faced the A’s twice this season, he fared much better the first time at home when he held them to 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 7.

Keys to success:

If the A’s bats continue to be as quiet as they were the previous 3 games, the pitching is going to have to be near perfect if the A’s want to salvage a game or 2 this weekend.  Facing Texas is never easy and facing them in Arlington is even harder.

I am trying to remain optimistic, but just hoping for a series split, or better yet how about they don’t get swept?

Keep an eye out on A.J. Griffin this weekend to see how he handles the pressure of pitching away from the O.co and facing a big league lineup.

Athletics:  12  Rangers: 1

No offense to the A’s, but they were not themselves tonight.  The A’s got to Scott Feldman early tonight, so early that he was knocked out of the game after he’d only thrown 1.2 innings.  The second inning began with a lead off walk from Yoenis Cespedes, a single from Seth Smith and a 3-run home run from Brandon Inge.  Feldman would then go on to face 4 more batters and allow 3 more runs before retiring the first batter of the inning.  The A’s would score 8 runs in that one inning, which was more than enough to win the game.  The A’s would eventually go on to score 4 more runs (which also included a 2-run home run by Kila Ka’aihue), but the 3-run home run by Brandon Inge was all they really needed to win the game.

Surprisingly, the offense was not the story of the night. Jarrod Parker pitched a phenomenal game tonight, taking a no-hitter into the 8th and pitching 8 shut out innings against the offensively skilled, Texas Rangers.  The only hit Parker allowed was to Michael Young, who lead off the 8th with a single.  He then was immediately able to get Nelson Cruz to pop up and David Murphy to ground out into a double play.

Lines of the Day:

• Jarrod Parker:  8 IP, 1 H, 3 BB, 6 SO.  Parker’s pitch count was up early, he threw 111 pitches (69 for strikes), but had his best outing this season by far.  He has now allowed 2 runs or less in 7 of his 8 starts this season.
• Seth Smith:  5 AB, 4 H, 2 R, 1 RBI.  Great night for Seth Smith, who was a home run short of the cycle.
• Honorable Mention to the A’s offense, who had 15 hits total tonight with every player in the starting line up recording a hit.