A’s Ready For Texas
By Joseph Lopez
The A’s (50-48), head into Texas on Tuesday in the hopes of making a run at the first-place Rangers. Texas currently holds a 7.5 game advantage over Oakland in the AL West, largely because of their potent offense and surprisingly sharp pitching.
The A’s meanwhile sit in third-place and trail second-place Los Angeles by just a half game. The A’s young rotation looks to be without its veteran leader, Ben Sheets, but with Brett Anderson due back this weekend, the A’s rotation should prove effective.
The A’s are winners of nine of their last 11, and hope to continue their winning ways. Despite lacking a big bat in their lineup, the A’s have seen plenty of scoring opportunities lately, as guys like Jack Cust and Kurt Suzuki are hitting the ball extremely well right now. Suzuki, who recently signed a four-year extension, leads the team in home runs with 11. He needs just four more to match his career high of 15, which he set last year.
Suzuki and the rest of the offense will look to get things going against Texas’ newest ace, Cliff Lee. If the A’s can score some runs in the series, they might be able to make up some ground.