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Athletics-Rangers Preview

Jul 28, 2010 - 5:00 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Oakland (50-48) at Texas (58-41), 8:05 p.m. EDT

Nelson Cruz and Michael Young have carried the Texas Rangers during this homestand that has given the club a big cushion atop the AL West.

Cruz and Young look to continue their respective hitting streaks Wednesday night in the middle game of this series against the Oakland Athletics.

Texas (59-41) is an AL-best 9-3 since the All-Star break to build a commanding lead in the West. The Rangers took three of four from the Los Angeles Angels to start this homestand before Cruz's two-run homer in the 10th inning gave them a 3-1 victory over the Athletics (50-49) on Tuesday night.

"Fortunately Nelson put a good swing on one there at the end and it went out of the park, so it was good to see," starter Cliff Lee said.

Cruz is 9 for 20 with two homers on this homestand to extend his career-best hitting streak to 15 games while Young is 7 for 18 with three homers to push his run to nine. Each player has driven in four runs over the last five contests.

The Rangers are 4-3 against the Athletics, with Young going 9 for 27 and Josh Hamilton 12 for 31. Vladimir Guerrero, 3 for 20 on this homestand, is 9 for 33 with nine RBIs against Oakland in 2010.

Texas has an AL-best 2.60 ERA since the All-Star break, although Lee did not win Tuesday. Lee struck out a career-high 13 and scattered five hits in a nine-inning effort that failed to produce his 100th career victory.

"It's too bad we couldn't get (Lee) the win, but the team got the win and that's all that matters," manager Ron Washington said.

Oakland lost for the third time in 12 games and had a four-game road win streak snapped. Jack Cust and Matt Carson each struck out three times against Lee.

The second game of this series features the third matchup this year between Oakland's Trevor Cahill (9-4, 3.15 ERA) and Texas' Colby Lewis (9-6, 3.52). The Athletics won the first two in May, with Cahill going 1-0 with a 1.69 ERA while Lewis went 0-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

Cahill improved to 4-1 with a 2.23 ERA in six career outings against the Rangers. Young is 5 for 10 with three walks against him, but Cruz is hitless in seven at-bats with one walk.

The right-hander has a streak of 16 straight starts in which he has allowed six hits or fewer - the longest such streak in Oakland history. He has a .204 opponent batting average to rank second in the league behind Texas' C.J. Wilson, who will start Thursday's finale.

Cahill gave up three runs over seven innings Friday in a 5-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Lewis, meanwhile, is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA in six career starts against Oakland. He gave up four runs over seven innings last Wednesday in a 4-1 loss at Detroit.

The right-hander is 5-1 with a 3.40 ERA in eight home starts.