The surging Texas Rangers will look to sweep a three-game series from the Athletics on Wednesday when the teams clash in the finale of the set in Arlington, Texas.
JP Sears (7-8, 5.13 ERA) will take the mound to start for the Athletics while Texas will counter with fellow left-hander Patrick Corbin (6-7, 3.91).
The Rangers have captured the first two games of the series, including a 6-2 victory on Tuesday that featured a three-run homer from Corey Seager and the sixth consecutive win for ace pitcher Jacob deGrom.
Texas has won seven of its past nine contests and is 52-50 for the season, marking the first time since mid-May that it is two games over the .500 mark.
“I’d say, more than anything, you’ve seen the bats come to life and putting runs on the board,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said about his team’s recent success.
“The pitching has been doing a great job all year and continue to do that to give us a chance to win. But we’re getting timely hits. We’re getting big hits, hits that we were missing earlier in the season, but it’s starting to happen now.”
The Athletics have lost three straight and had seven hits by seven different players on Tuesday.
Sears has gone 1-1 in his past three starts but was rocked for seven runs (six earned) on six hits in four innings in a loss in Cleveland on Friday. He had two walks and allowed two home runs while striking out five in six innings of work.
“There was a lack of execution on pitches for JP,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said about Sears’ showing on Friday. “He left some balls up and really just kind of got on the defensive, wasn’t aggressive in the zone with his fastball enough and to keep these guys off balance. At the end of the day, he didn’t pitch effectively.”
Sears has been great against the Rangers, amassing a 6-1 mark and a 3.83 ERA over 10 lifetime starts. Two of those wins came earlier this season when he allowed three combined runs and 10 hits in 10 2/3 innings while striking out 12.
Corbin has won two of his past three starts and has allowed four runs combined runs and 16 hits over 16 2/3 innings in his three outings in July. He pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings while allowing just three hits in his most recent appearance, getting a no-decision in a game the Rangers won 2-0 against Detroit on Friday.
Corbin is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in three career starts against the Athletics, allowing five runs in 18 hits with 12 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings. He’s 1-1 this season versus the A’s, winning while giving up two runs on seven hits over five innings on April 22 and then losing six days later with a nearly identical stat line.