Harden faces Rangers in search of fourth straight win

Oakland (9-12) at Texas (11-10) 2:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) - It has been 14 years since a pitcher on the Oakland Athletics began a season by winning four straight decisions. Rich Harden will attempt to break that drought in the rubber game of a three-game series against the Texas Rangers.

Harden (3-0, 3.58 ERA) has allowed only 11 hits in 22 innings to win each of his last three starts. With a fourth straight winning start Wednesday, Harden would become the first member of the A's to open a season 4-0 since Mike Moore in 1992.

Among his three straight triumphs, Harden allowed four runs and three hits in seven innings of a 5-4 win against the Rangers on April 15. He recorded eight strikeouts but issued a season-high five walks in that game.

En route to a 2-1 mark with a 1.48 ERA vs. Texas last year, Harden took a perfect game into the eighth inning on July 14. He settled for his first career shutout, a two-hitter in a 6-0 triumph.

Harden will need to be sharp Wednesday as the A's rank last in the major leagues with a .225 batting average. After hitting just .187 (41-for-219) in its previous seven games, Oakland produced nine hits Tuesday but took a 6-5 setback following Hank Blalock's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Kameron Loe (0-2, 5.40) will try to make it two in a row for the Rangers, who will be concluding a six-game homestand. Loe's best start of the season came against Oakland on April 16, when he allowed just an unearned run and five hits in seven innings of an eventual 5-3 victory.

In his previous four outings against the A's, Loe went 0-3 with an 8.10 ERA. He is coming off the shortest start of his career Friday, when he allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings of an eventual 13-7 victory over Tampa Bay.

Kevin Mench homered in his fifth straight game Tuesday for the Rangers, tying the longest such streak in franchise history. Carl Everett and Alex Rodriguez each did it in 2003 and Mark Teixeira followed suit from July 11-19, 2004.

Oakland's Eric Chavez, who went hitless in five at-bats Tuesday, needs two more home runs for 200 in his career.