Rangers at Athletics 8/20/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Texas Rangers open a three-game series on the road Monday against the surging Oakland Athletics. The Rangers were outslugged on Saturday by the Los Angeles Angels 11-7. In the loss, Rougned Odor, Joey Gallo and Elvis Andrus each banged out three hits for Texas. Andrus has at least one hit at Globe Life Park, the home of the Rangers, in 37 straight games.

Oakland won its second straight and sixth in its last seven on Saturday with a 7-1 victory over the Houston Astros. The win moved the A’s into a tie for first in the American League West with the Astros. Trevor Cahill threw one-hit ball through seven innings. Matt Olsen, Stephen Piscotty, Khris Davis and Josh Plegley each hit a pair of doubles for the A’s in the win. Shin-Soo Choo leads the Rangers with a .281 batting average and has a team high 126 hits. Joey Gallo has the Rangers’ lead in home runs with 32 and RBIs with 75. Texas has a team batting average of .246 while opposing hitters are averaging .273 at the plate against Rangers pitching. On Monday, the Rangers will send Yovani Gallardo to the mound. The right-hander this season is 7-2 with an ERA of 6.39, 33 Ks and 29 BBs.

Matt Chapman leads the A’s with a .276 batting average. Khris Davis has the A’s lead in home runs with 34 and in RBIs with 95. Oakland has a team batting average of .249 while opposing hitters are averaging .239 at the plate against Athletics pitching. On Monday, Oakland will send Mike Fiers to the mound the right-hander this season is 8-6 with an ERA Of 3.38, 100 Ks and 26 BBs.