The Oakland Athletics are threatening to dethrone the Texas Rangers in the A.L. West. With a week of baseball left to play, the A's are just three games back of the first place Rangers.

Last night the A's put a hurting on Rangers' pitching. They scored five runs in the first inning, which was enough for the win. They defeated the Rangers 9-3 behind Jarrod Parker's arm. He went six innings and gave up three runs. 

Travis Backley will take the mound for the A's today. He will face the Rangers' Matt Harrison, who has been arguably the best pitcher for Texas this season. 

Backley is 5-3 with a 3.75 ERA, while Harrison is 17-10 with a 3.17 ERA.

The A's have only won four of their last ten games, but two of those wins have come back-to-back against the Rangers. 

With the batting the Rangers possess, they can hold on to the A.L. West, but the Athletics have surprised many around the league. The A's and the Baltimore Orioles are probably the biggest surprises of the season. 

Click here to watch the free online live stream of the Athletics vs. Rangers. 

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