If the Texas Rangers' backs aren’t yet against the wall, they have to be at least getting somewhat close.
Texas is now two games under .500 at 60-62 after losing three of four to the last-place Los Angeles Angels.
Now, the Rangers will remain in the state of California as they travel to Sacramento, Calif., to take on the Athletics in a three-game series.
First pitch in Friday night’s series opener is scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CST in another late West Coast showdown.
CW33 will have all the action on Friday night as part of their package of select Rangers Friday broadcasts. 105.3 The Fan will have the call on the radio side of things.
Kumar Rocker will take the mound for the Rangers to make his 23rd appearance (21st) start of the season.
Coming into play, Rocker is 4-9 with a 4.46 ERA, a 1.38 WHIP, and 103 strikeouts in 111 innings pitched.
In his last start against the Baltimore Orioles, Rocker struggled, allowing six earned runs in just three innings of work.
On Friday, Rocker will look to bounce back against an A’s team that he has faced twice already this season.
In each of those starts, Rocker allowed just two runs, throwing 4.2 innings in Sacramento and six innings in Arlington. The Rangers lost both of those games.
At the time of this writing, the A’s starting pitcher is still listed as TBD, but whoever it is, Texas will certainly need to swing the bats better than they did in the series against the Angels.
Texas scored just eight runs in the four-game set with Los Angeles and was shut out in Thursday night’s series finale.
Those struggles weren’t for a lack of chances, as the Rangers were able to generate multiple scoring opportunities throughout the series, but in large part were not able to capitalize after a tough series from multiple key offensive contributors.
Coming into play on Friday, Texas is outside of postseason position, trailing the American League West leaders by two games and the AL’s final Wild Card spot by just a half game.
If the Rangers aren’t able to get results from this series against the Athletics, it will mark a very disappointing road trip against the division’s two worst teams.
The trip seemed like the golden opportunity for Texas to go on a run, but unless they find success in California’s capital, they could be in some trouble.