Texas Rangers vs. Oakland Athletics Preview and Predictions 09-07-2018 in MLB
MLB Previews 6th September 2018 by Gracenote
by Gracenote on 09/06/2018
The Oakland Athletics continue to march toward their first playoff appearance in four years when they complete a 10-game homestand by hosting the Texas Rangers in a three-game set beginning Friday. Oakland (84-57) took two of three from the New York Yankees, including Wednesday's 8-2 rout, and sits 3 1/2 games behind Houston in the American League West, 5 1/2 ahead of Seattle for the second and final wild-card spot and 3 1/2 back of New York for home field in the wild-card game.
"We take every game right now as a playoff game,'' Athletics right-hander Mike Fiers told reporters Wednesday after Oakland completed a stretch in which they played 20 straight days. "We're a couple games back from a couple teams. Every game matters. Every pitch matters. But we're not locking up in these situations. The boys are playing ball, making it tough on those other teams." Oakland has an opportunity to better its standing with 12 of its next 15 games versus sub-.500 competition with nine of those contests at home while improving on its 10-6 season series lead over Texas. The Rangers (61-79) are coming off a 9-3 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday to complete a 3-5 homestand. The Athletics will recall Chris Bassitt from Triple-A Nashville to make a spot start and he will oppose Yovani Gallardo, who snapped a three-start winless streak (0-2) in his last outing.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, FS Southwest, NBCS California
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Yovani Gallardo (8-3, 5.97 ERA) vs. Athletics RH Chris Bassitt (2-3, 3.19)
Gallardo allowed three runs, six hits and a walk while striking out one in five innings of a 7-4 victory over Minnesota on Saturday. The 32-year-old Mexican is 5-2 with a 4.07 ERA over his last eight starts, going 1-1, 2.61 in two road outings during that span and improving to 3-2, 7.24 in seven games (five starts) away from home this season. Khris Davis is 3-for-10 with three solo home runs versus Gallardo, who is 2-5 with a 4.47 ERA in 11 games (10 starts) versus the Athletics - 1-2, 3.58 in five turns at Oakland Coliseum.
Bassitt received a no-decision after yielding one run, four hits and three walks while striking out three over 4 2/3 innings of his last major-league appearance -Oakland's 6-2 victory at Minnesota on Aug. 26. The 29-year-old Ohio native was 5-5 with a 4.30 ERA in 18 games (14 starts) with Nashville this season. Bassitt is 0-1 with an 11.25 ERA in two games (one start) versus Texas - both in 2015.
WALK-OFFS
1. Davis (.248, 106 RBIs), who leads the majors with 40 home runs, has gone deep only once in his last 13 games.
2. Texas 3B Adrian Beltre (.275, 10 home runs, 51 RBIs) has homered in three of his last five games and owns 472 for his career, one behind Carlos Delgado for 32nd all-time. Beltre also has 3,149 career hits and is six shy of passing George Brett for 15th.
3. Oakland RF Stephen Piscotty (.265, 22 home runs, 71 RBIs) is 11-for-29 during an eight-game hitting streak after delivering a two-run single Wednesday.
PREDICTION: Athletics 3, Rangers 2
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New York Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners Preview and Predictions 09-07-2018 in MLB
MLB Previews 6th September 2018 by Gracenote
Yankees vs. Mariners Preview and Predictions
by Gracenote on 09/06/2018
The New York Yankees own the second-best record in baseball and are leading the American League wild-card race, but they still believe they are capable of playing better. The Seattle Mariners, who host the Yankees in the opener of a three-game series beginning on Friday, need a spark to get back into the wild-card race and could stand for New York to take a few more days getting its act together.
The Yankees (87-53) sit 9 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL East and are 3 1/2 games up on Oakland for the first AL wild-card but are losers of five of their last eight and began their west coast trip with a series loss in Oakland this week. "I want to get rolling, no question about it," New York manager Aaron Boone told reporters. "I think we're doing some things well, but we're not certainly rolling like we're capable of. We're starting to get some guys back, which is really important, but we've got to play better if we want to get to where we want to go." The Mariners (78-62) need an extended stretch of strong play to make it a three-team race for the AL wild-card and enter the weekend 5 1/2 games behind the Athletics. Seattle will try to take advantage of slumping New York behind ace James Paxton while dealing with Yankees righty Masahiro Tanaka.
TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, YES (New York), ROOT Northwest (Seattle)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Yankees RH Masahiro Tanaka (10-5, 3.83 ERA) vs. Mariners LH James Paxton (11-5, 3.74)
Tanaka snapped a five-start winless stretch by holding Detroit to one run and seven hits over seven innings on Saturday. The 29-year-old has permitted only one home run in his last four outings after surrendering 22 in his first 19 turns. Tanaka is seeing Seattle for the first time in 2018 and is 6-0 with a 2.34 ERA in seven career starts against the Mariners.
Paxton came off the disabled list on Saturday and needed five innings to rack up 10 strikeouts and earn a win over Oakland. The Canada native missed over two weeks after getting hit on the forearm by a comebacker and was a little rusty with his control while issuing four walks against the Athletics. Paxton struck out nine in five innings at New York on June 21 but suffered the loss while allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Yankees are expected to activate SS Didi Gregorius from the 10-day DL on Friday.
2. Seattle OF Denard Span went 3-for-3 on Wednesday, matching his hit total from the previous six games.
3. New York OF prospect Clint Frazier (post-concussion syndrome) is unlikely to play again this season.
PREDICTION: Mariners 4, Yankees 3
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