Athletics and Rangers play to decide series winner

Texas Rangers (75-83, third in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (68-90, fourth in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Thursday, 3:37 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Kumar Rocker (0-1, 2.57 ERA, 1.57 WHIP, 12 strikeouts); Athletics: J.T. Ginn (0-1, 4.40 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Athletics -123, Rangers +103; over/under is 7 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Both the Oakland Athletics and the Texas Rangers are looking for a series win with a victory on Thursday.

Oakland is 68-90 overall and 37-43 in home games. The Athletics are third in the AL with 193 total home runs, averaging 1.2 per game.

Texas has a 75-83 record overall and a 31-46 record on the road. The Rangers have gone 39-72 in games when they have given up a home run.

Thursday’s game is the 13th time these teams meet this season. The Rangers are ahead 7-5 in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS: Brent Rooker leads the Athletics with a .296 batting average, and has 26 doubles, two triples, 38 home runs, 57 walks and 110 RBI. Lawrence Butler is 10-for-38 with a home run and three RBI over the past 10 games.

Marcus Semien has 26 doubles, two triples, 22 home runs and 73 RBI for the Rangers. Leody Taveras is 11-for-34 with three home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 3-7, .222 batting average, 5.63 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

Rangers: 4-6, .229 batting average, 4.85 ERA, outscored by 11 runs

INJURIES: Athletics: Ross Stripling: 15-Day IL (back), Osvaldo Bido: 15-Day IL (wrist), Esteury Ruiz: 60-Day IL (wrist), Miguel Andujar: 60-Day IL (muscle), Austin Adams: 15-Day IL (forearm), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (elbow), Alex Wood: 60-Day IL (rotator cuff), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Gott: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Rangers: Tyler Mahle: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Joshua Jung: 10-Day IL (wrist), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Jose Urena: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Corey Seager: 60-Day IL (hip), Grant Anderson: 15-Day IL (ankle), Jon Gray: 60-Day IL (foot), Evan Carter: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Cole Winn: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Carson Coleman: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.