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Athletics seek fifth win in a row

May 9, 2008 - 1:45 PM Oakland (22-14) at Texas (16-20) 8:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) - The Oakland Athletics have been a pleasant surprise this season and rookie Greg Smith is one of the reasons why.

Smith looks to guide the Athletics to their fifth straight victory on Friday when they host the Texas Rangers in the opener of a three-game series.

The 24-year-old Smith (2-1, 2.54 ERA) was solid in his last start, holding the Rangers to just one run with a season-high 10 strikeouts in a no-decision on Sunday.

Since the lefthander made his major league debut on April 9, Smith has not surrendered more than three runs in any of his six outings and has gone at least five innings on each occasion.

The Rangers turn to Scott Feldman (0-1, 5.40), who gave up three runs and six hits through 6 1/3 frames on Sunday in a 3-1 loss at Oakland.

Texas enters after an emotional win on Thursday that was marred by a bench-clearing brawl in the fourth inning which involved starter Kason Gabbard and Seattle first baseman Richie Sexson, who charged the mound after taking exception to a high pitch.

"If you look at the replay, Gabbard was nowhere near Sexson's head," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "I guess he was just a little frustrated and things got out of control. We don't throw at people's heads. Sexson overreacted."