The Athletics have been outscored by 86 runs, worst in the majors. Now they visit a 12-6 Rangers team that's won four straight. Oakland starter JP Sears has given up five homers in 15.2 innings. He's backed up by a bullpen with a 6.78 ERA, compared to Texas' 2.71 bullpen ERA. Rangers starter Jon Gray (1-1, 3.21 ERA) should get plenty of run support. Look for Oakland to lose by two-plus runs for the 13th time.

I'm all over this lookahead Friday line as I'm shocked it's under -200 and willing to bet it gets well over that eventually. The A's are going to burn us about 60 times this season -- even the worst teams usually win about 60 games -- but I may well fade them in every single one unless I see a matchup that looks fairly even (vs. Colorado, etc.). Oakland enters having lost 13 of 14 and many of those by multiple runs. Playing Texas at -1.5 (+120) isn't a terrible idea, but I'm really not much of a -1.5 guy as too many games are decided by one run. JP Sears has been decent on the mound for Oakland, so that's another reason why we won't play that. It's Jon Gray (1-1, 3.21 ERA) for Texas -- which eyes its first five-game winning streak since 2019.

JP Sears has been one of the better A's pitchers. However, he'll have his work cut out for him tonight, as the Rangers have put up an average of 9.25 runs over their last four games. I expect Jon Gray and the Rangers' relievers to keep the A's scoring to a minimum, but I still like this total here. Six of the seven A's away games and nine of the last 11 Rangers games have ended with at least nine runs. Take the over.