Oakland right fielder Lawrence Butler is providing some much-needed power for the rebuilding Athletics, who begin a three-game series against the Texas Rangers on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
Butler recorded his second three-homer game of the season on Thursday, when the A’s had their three-game winning streak snapped in a 10-9 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
“Lawrence is obviously a pretty special kid,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “He’s very talented, and he showed that (Thursday) with the power, which is a true tool that he has. It’s nice to watch him continue to grow.”
Butler, 24, has homered 19 times this season after going deep five times during the three-game series against the Reds.
Oakland also received a boost in the series finale from center fielder JJ Bleday, who went 5-for-5 with a home run, two doubles and three runs.
The A’s continue their six-game road trip against Texas, which has won three straight and five of its past seven.
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager hit his 200th career homer in a 2-1 road win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday.
Seager has 11 home runs in August and 30 for the season. He batted .500 (7-for-14) with a home run and three RBIs in the three-game series sweep of the White Sox.
“We’re talking about one of the best hitters in the game,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’re talking about a very gifted player who can do some amazing things with the bat, especially on the slugging side, even the hitting side. He’s got a lot more in there, too. Trust me.”
Rookie left fielder Wyatt Langford is batting .289 (13-for-45) with two homers and 10 RBIs over his past 13 games for Texas, which is opening a 10-day, 10-game homestand.
The Rangers will send right-hander Jon Gray (5-5, 4.32 ERA) to the mound in the series opener on Friday. He faced the Cleveland Guardians on Saturday in his first start since July 28. Gray, 32, yielded seven runs on seven hits over two-plus innings in a 13-5 loss.
“I felt good the first few innings,” Gray said. “I think I lost a little gas in the last couple of hitters. First few innings look horrible if you look at the results, but a lot of the swings were uncomfortable, but they really found a lot of holes.”
Seth Brown is 2-for-11 with a home run against Gray, who is 2-2 with a 4.21 ERA in seven career starts versus Oakland. Gray took a tough-luck loss to the A’s on April 11 after allowing one run and striking out nine in five innings.
The Athletics will counter with left-hander JP Sears (10-9, 4.35 ERA), who allowed seven runs (five earned) over 3 2/3 innings in an 11-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Aug. 23.
The rough outing came after Sears entered the game on a hot streak. He was 3-0 with a 1.57 ERA in his previous four starts.
“You make mistakes up in the zone against a good hitting team, they’re going to take advantage of it, which they did,” Kotsay said. “I think JP’s (velocity) might have been down a tick and could have had some impact on the performance as well.”
Marcus Semien is 6-for-19 with two homers against Sears, who is 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA in two starts vs. Texas this year. In seven career starts against the Rangers, Sears is 3-1 with a 4.71 ERA.
–Field Level Media