Texas Rangers (14-12) at Oakland A's (13-14)

It's like two ships passing in the night. Check this out.

The Rangers and A's have done the exact opposite over the last ten games, which is a big reason why the Rangers are in first place in the west. It also helps that your pitching is pretty dog gone awesome, which can be said of the Rangers. They have given up six runs over the last four games, two going into extra innings for a total of 41 innings (that is a 1.31 ERA).

Mazzaro, who was 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA in five games for Triple-A Sacramento in 2010, went 4-9 with a 5.32 ERA as a rookie in 17 starts last season for the A’s. He has never faced the Rangers.

As good as the Rangers’ rotation has been lately, Oakland’s has been that bad. A’s starters have posted a 10.26 ERA during a 1-6 stretch, with the offense totaling 23 runs. (By ALAN FERGUSON)

I'll let Alan do that homework. As far as Feldman is concerned, he is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA coming into this one. He is 3-4 against Oakland in his career (8 starts, 13 games) and has tallied up 50.2 innings for a 5.33 ERA against the A's. Despite the fairly high ERA, they only knock him for a .234 batting average, which means they make their hits count against Feldman.

Feldman has only one road start this season, which was against the Yankees, which lasted 2.1 innings before getting chased out. Also notable, the Rangers have lost the last three Feldman starts.

Oakland A's Hitters vs. Feldman:

• 
  
  Ryan Sweeney 5-15 (.333 BA) with 4 doubles and 3 RBIs
• 
  
  Gabe Gross 2-5 (.400 BA) with a HR and 2 RBIs

The remainder of the team is batting a combined .135 with a double, triple, and four RBIs in 37 at-bats.

Forecast: I like the Rangers chances in this one. Feldman didn't take the loss in his last game against the White Sox, despite the Rangers still losing in that one. It is also pretty obvious that the Rangers are hot and the A's are not. If the Rangers get over 6 innings from Feldman, look for a Rangers win. If Texas hits the bullpen early, the odds of a Ranger/Feldman win diminish drastically. Still, I think Feldman will log more than six innings and pull this one out. The numbers suggest that and I can disagree with the numbers. Rangers win, 5-3.