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Gonzalez, Harrison square off in Oakland

May 1, 2011 - 2:58 PM (Sports Network) - Left-hander Gio Gonzalez tries to avoid his third straight loss this afternoon when the Oakland Athletics continue their four-game series with the Texas Rangers at the Coliseum.

After opening the year with two wins through his first three starts and pitching to a 0.47 earned run average in those outings, Gonzalez has been rocked in his last two trips to the hill, allowing nine runs in 11 innings to push his ERA to 2.70 on the season.

Gonzalez's latest defeat came at the hands of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on Monday, as he allowed five runs (four earned) and eight hits in five innings.

"He never really got in a great rhythm," A's manager Bob Geren said of Gonzalez. "I thought his velocity and movement on his breaking ball was normal. It just wasn't located as well."

Gonzalez has faced the Rangers eight times (six starts) and is 3-1 against them with a 2.09 ERA.

Texas, meanwhile, will hand the ball to lefty of its own riding a two-game losing streak in Matt Harrison. Like Gonzalez, Harrison was flawless through his first three starts, going 3-0 with a 1.23 ERA, and also like his counterpart today, has fallen on hard times, surrendering 10 runs in 9 2/3 innings of his last two starts.

Harrison, who is 3-0 lifetime against the A's, was pounded by the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday, as he gave up seven runs and eight hits in just three innings.

"I understand when I've had bad starts in the past, they can roll over to two, three in a row," said Harrison, who leads the AL with a 1.20 road ERA. "I plan on getting back on track to my first four starts -- be aggressive, attack the hitters and make them put the ball in play. I'd rather do that than walk guys."

Texas bounced back from a loss in Friday's opener on Saturday, as home runs from Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, and Mike Napoli helped lead the Rangers to an 11-2 rout.

Colby Lewis (2-3) allowed two runs and scattered six hits and one walk through eight innings as Texas snapped a two-game slide and finished April with 16 wins - third most in franchise history, tying 1996 and behind 1998 (17) and 2000 (18).

Brett Anderson (2-2) was beat up for seven runs on nine hits in five innings of work. He walked four and struck out three for Oakland, which has lost three of five.

"That was probably the worst stuff I've ever had dating back to high school. It was terrible. It was almost embarrassing, even comical how bad it was," Anderson said of his performance.

Texas held a 10-9 edge in the 2010 season series with Oakland while the A's won 11 of 19 matchups a year prior.