The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics meet Friday in MLB action at Oakland Coliseum. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

The Texas Rangers have scored 8 runs in their last 3 games and 4 or more runs in 8 of their last 10 games. The Rangers have won 7 of their last 9 games when scoring 4 or more runs. Marcus Semien leads the Rangers with 43 hits and 31 RBI, while Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim have combined for 74 hits and 52 RBI. Martin Perez gets the ball, and he is 4-1 with a 3.86 ERA and 28 strikeouts this season. Perez is 9-7 with a 4.46 ERA and 76 strikeouts in his career against the Athletics.

The Oakland Athletics have scored 8 runs in their last 3 games and 3 or fewer runs in 7 of their last 10 games. The Athletics have lost 22 straight games when scoring 3 or fewer runs. Esteury Ruiz leads the Athletics with 41 hits and 16 RBI, while Brent Rooker and Shea Langeliers have combined for 59 hits and 43 RBI. Ken Waldichuk gets the ball, and he is 1-2 with a 7.25 ERA and 31 strikeouts this season. This will be Waldichuk’s second career game against the Rangers.

The Rangers are 8-17 in their last 25 during game 2 of a series and 17-43 in their last 60 Friday games. The Athletics are 28-64 in their last 92 home games and 13-38 in their last 51 overall. The under is 5-2 in Rangers last 7 road games. The over is 23-11-1 in Athletics last 35 overall. The Rangers are 17-35 in the last 52 meetings in Oakland.

As I’ve said before, backing the Oakland Athletics isn’t an option, as the losses are piling up and the offense continues to produce little to nothing. I doubt things change going up against Martin Perez. I want nothing to do with the A’s. Give me the Rangers and the more than reasonable price on the road.