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Athletics-Rangers Preview

Apr 28, 2009 - 4:31 AM By MATT BEARDMORE STATS Writer

Oakland (7-10) at Texas (8-10), 8:05 p.m. EDT

Oakland is more than 1,700 miles from Arlington, Texas. A's left-hander Brett Anderson, though, should feel right at home Tuesday night.

The 21-year-old native of Midland looks for his first major league victory as the suddenly hot-hitting A's open a six-game trip with the first of three against the Texas Rangers.

Anderson (0-2, 5.89 ERA), who grew up in Lubbock, expects to see some friendly faces as he makes his first major league start in Texas.

"That's as close as it gets to my hometown," Anderson told Oakland's official Web site. "I'm familiar with (the Rangers) and I've been to the park."

In his last outing - Wednesday's 9-7 loss to the New York Yankees in 14 innings - the rookie southpaw gave up five runs and nine hits in 5 1-3 innings.

"It was tough," Anderson told the team's official Web site. "Especially to have so many close games and come up on the short end of the stick."

Oakland (7-10), though, is looking for its third straight victory following a five-game skid. After batting .190 (36-for-189) as a team during its slide, the A's are coming off a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday when they had 10 hits.

"This is so early right now, a lot of things can happen," shortstop Orlando Cabrera said. "It's like playing poker. Fortunes can change so quickly, you know? The most important thing for us is just to keep it together and win ballgames."

Cabrera, who was mired in a 3-for-37 slump prior to getting two hits Sunday, is batting .305 lifetime versus Rangers scheduled starter Kevin Millwood.

Kurt Suzuki is batting .529 with two doubles, a homer and all seven of his RBIs this season in his last five games.

If the A's are going to win their first series at Rangers Ballpark since taking two of three there from Aug. 6-8, 2007, they'll likely have to find a way to shut down Texas' booming bats. After hitting 10 home runs in winning three of four at Baltimore, the Rangers (9-10) open a six-game homestand with a major league-best 39 home runs.

Michael Young, who had a career-best 24 homers in 2005, hit his sixth of the season in Monday's 6-4 win over the Orioles. Young, though, has just three homers in his last 59 games against the A's.

Ian Kinsler went hitless in his last 12 at-bats of the road trip, but is batting .537 (22-for-41) with three homers in nine games at home.

Nelson Cruz, second on the team with six homers, had Monday off after going 2-for-12 in his previous three games.

"For the last couple of days I thought he looked a little fatigued," manager Ron Washington told Texas' official Web site. "We'll let him catch his breath and get him back in there tomorrow."

Josh Hamilton is questionable Tuesday after missing the last two starts with bruised ribs.

Millwood (1-2, 2.10 ERA) gets the ball following the Rangers' 4-3 trip. In Thursday's 5-2 loss at Toronto, he allowed four runs and five hits after yielding just three runs in his first three starts.

"Tonight was probably the worst I've pitched out of the four (starts) but I still felt like I gave us a chance," he said. "It's just not working out when I pitch right now."

The right-hander has just one victory in his last 10 starts against the Athletics after winning his first three career starts against them.

Texas won 12 of 18 at home against Oakland during the past two seasons.