Game #23: Athletics vs. Rangers Game Thread

Back in Sac for the start of the homestand

Back home. The A’s enjoyed a day off yesterday but now return to the ballpark to continue the season tonight they will welcome the Texas Rangers to Sutter Health Park for the first time. This will be the first of 13 contests that these two teams will play against each other this season as both teams seek to exceed expectations in 2025.

On the bump for the home team is righty Osvaldo Bido. Bido is experiencing his best run of success as a major leaguer as he’s begun the season with a 2.61 ERA over four starts. That leads all A’s starters and would rank in the top-10 in the American League if he had one more inning to qualify. He’s pitched at least five innings in each start and is coming off his longest outing of the year, a 5 ²⁄₃ inning start against the Chicago White Sox. The A’s would gladly take that again tonight against a division rival who is outplaying expectations so far.

The starting lineup to kick off the series:

As expected the team elected to not activate star prospect Nick Kurtz for tonight’s contest. We’ll have to be patient and wait one more day before seeing him suit up in the Green & Gold. Tonight’s lineup looks fairly standard for what the A’s have gone with this year. We will see left fielder Miguel Andujar rise in the lineup to the #5 spot, sliding ahead of center fielder JJ Bleday in the batting order. And second base will be manned by veteran infielder Luis Urias tonight while Max Muncy takes a seat. Could this be a sign that Muncy might be the roster casualty to make room for Kurtz?

The Rangers meanwhile will send out left-handed veteran Patrick Corbin to make his third start for Texas this season. Corbin signed a minor league deal just over a month ago after spending the past six years with the Washington Nationals. The first year of his mega-deal with Washington was a success but it’s been a rough few years for Corbin since then, hence the minor league deal. The 35-year old has had a solid start to the year as he’s pitched in two games already, including pitching into the sixth inning in his last outing. He’ll be looking to continue securing his rotation spot for the long haul with a quality outing against the A’s as Texas continues to deal with starting pitching injuries.

Texas’ starting nine tonight:

A sweep tonight would draw the Athletics even with the Rangers, who are currently leading the AL West at 13- Time to start the series and home stand off with a win! Let’s go A’s!