April 24, 2022 - Game 15
Television and Radio Listings for Today's Game
Rangers TV: Bally Sports Southwest
Rangers Radio: 105.3 The Fan (English); KFLC 1270 (Spanish)
Athletics TV: NBC Sports California
Athletics Radio: KNEW 960 AM; KIQI 1010 (Spanish)
Overview
The Rangers go for a series sweep on Sunday against the Oakland Athletics in Oakland. Texas announced after the game Saturday that Garrett Richards would be the opener. Spencer Howard will likely follow and get the bulk of the work Sunday, coming off the injured list with the blister issue he suffered after his first outing against the Blue Jays. In his first outing two weeks ago, Howard allowed two home runs and four runs in the first inning to Toronto but then struck out five between the second and third innings. Spencer yielded two solo home runs in those two innings but settled down after a rocky first. The Rangers will likely ease Spencer Howard’s workload for three innings and maybe a fourth depending on the pitch count and stress innings (if any). It’ll be Spencer Howard’s first career outing against the Oakland Athletics.
The Rangers offense will face left-hander Cole Irvin Sunday which means Texas will send their lefty-bashing lineup to the forefront. Irvin is making his fourth start of 2022 and pitched five innings his last time out against the Orioles. In his second start against the Rays, he pitched into the seventh inning, finished with 6.1 innings, and still managed to throw under 75 pitches, while on Tuesday against the Orioles, he threw 95 pitches to get five innings. Sunday will be Cole’s sixth career outing against the Rangers, with all five coming last season. He was 2-2 with a 4.03 ERA, only walking five batters in twenty-nine innings. Therefore, the Rangers bats will likely be aggressive against Cole Irvin on Sunday.
Pregame Notables
The Rangers activated Spencer Howard off the 10-day IL and Dennis Santana off the COVID-IL. They placed Spencer Patton on the 10-day IL with a right oblique strain and optioned Nick Snyder to AAA Round Rock.
In 2021, the Rangers swept their opposition in a series twice. May 21-23 at home vs. Houston and June 25-27 at home vs. Kansas City. They had three separate occasions where they won three games in a four-game series (April 12-15 at Tampa Bay, April 29-May 1 at home vs. Boston, and May 3-6 at Minnesota).
The Rangers have won 3 of the last 4 games that Spencer Howard appeared in and 4 of the previous 6.
Texas is looking to make it five straight wins in Oakland. Before that, they had lost five of the last six games in Oakland.
A Rangers win + and an Astros loss at home to the Blue Jays would put Texas and Houston tied in the AL West, with Houston coming to town starting Monday.
Garrett Richards has a career 5.27 ERA in the first inning. It’s the highest of any inning between the first and seventh. He’s also allowed an opponent average of .274 and an OPS of .801 career-wise in the first.
Cole Irvin allowed three earned runs in each of his three outings against the Rangers in Oakland last season. He allowed three unearned runs totaled at home vs. Texas in 2021.
Saturday afternoon’s win was the first win of the year without hitting a home run.
Lineups
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