Game #32: Athletics at Rangers Game Thread

Let’s finish these guys off and hit the road on a winning streak

Time to wrap up this series folks. The A’s will begin the month of May with an afternoon tilt against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. After winning two of the first three the Athletics can win the series outright and take sole possession of third place in the division with a victory this afternoon. Texas won’t make it easy but the A’s have gone 4-2 so far against the Rangers so far this season. These A’s can do it.

Taking the hill for the finale will be left-hander Jeffrey Springs. A lot has been said about his first and second inning struggles this year. And deservedly so as his ERA’s in those first two frames are in the double digits. That’s unacceptable for a starting pitcher and Springs needs to get off to a good start today or we could be looking at another short outing from the lefty again.

The A’s will line up like this for today’s finale:

You may notice the Athletics have a new third baseman today. Miguel Andujar is at the hot corner for the finale for the first time this season, taking over for the struggling Gio Urshela. Andujar came up through the minor leagues as a third baseman but moved off the position due to poor defense. He’s hitting so well right now though that the club is determined to get him in the lineup alongside both Tyler Soderstrom and Nick Kurtz. If Andujar can play even passable defense then it’d allow the team to put their best lineup forward.

The rest of the lineup is full of regulars except for catcher. Predictably Shea Langeliers will get the finale off while backup Jhonny Pereda gets the start behind the dish.

Texas has been saving their ace for the final game of the series. Veteran right-hander Tyler Mahle will get the ball for today’s contest and he’s been on fire this season. The 30-year-old has become a completely different pitcher this year in his eighth big league season. While a mid-to-backend rotation member of the Cincinnati Reds for most of his career he’s become ace-like here in 2025. Through his first six starts he’s sporting a pristine 1.21 ERA which is good for second-best in all of baseball behind Dodgers starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He’s definitely found another level in his game but underlying stats are a bit more skeptical of Mahle. He has yet to allow a home run and his BABIP is an unsustainable .217 entering today so some regression is likely incoming. Let’s hope that regression starts today against our A’s.

Texas’ batting order for the series finale will look like this:

Time to finish these guys off and hit the road. Let’s go A’s!