Gray, Athletics Prepare for Rangers

(AP) -- Sonny Gray has won three straight starts and pitched 23 2-3 consecutive scoreless innings against the Texas Rangers.

Texas is 4-0 in division games with Nick Martinez on the mound.

Runs could be at a premium Tuesday night when Gray seeks to help the Oakland Athletics end a three-game slide as they host Martinez and the Rangers.

Gray (7-2, 1.65 ERA) brings baseball's lowest ERA into the opener of this three-game set. That figure is at 0.86 during a three-start win streak capped by Wednesday's 6-1 victory over Detroit after he pitched eight scoreless innings.

"We think we've got a good chance to win when he's on the mound, and that's been true since he got here,"manager Bob Melvin said. "It says a lot to see the kind of confidence he gives you when he's out there."

Gray is 6-2 with a 1.54 ERA in eight career starts against Texas, including his scoreless run that includes 14 2-3 innings in two 2015 wins in which he has scattered three hits. He walked a career-high seven over 6 2-3 innings the last time he faced the Rangers in a 7-1 victory May 3.

AL batting leader Prince Fielder, who has a .356 average, is 1 for 11 versus Gray. Elvis Andrus is 5 for 24 in this matchup, Leonys Martin is 2 for 24 and Robinson Chirinos 1 for 13.

Tuesday will mark the first time Gray will face top Rangers prospect Joey Gallo, who is 7 for 24 with two homers and 13 strikeouts.

The AL's worst team could have a tough time versus Martinez (4-2, 2.89), who is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in four division starts. He is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two against Oakland (23-36).

Martinez has dropped consecutive outings after giving up a season-high seven runs in a season-low 3 1-3 innings in Wednesday's 9-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

Josh Reddick is 5 for 9 against the right-hander while Eric Sogard is hitless in nine at-bats.

Stephen Vogt is 7 for 17 with eight RBIs and Reddick 6 for 12 with eight in the season series for Oakland, which has taken four of seven matchups. Fielder is 11 for 26 to lead Texas.

The Rangers (30-27) have won 14 of 18, though they failed to complete a three-game sweep Sunday after a 4-3 loss at Kansas City spoiled their rally from three runs down.

"It's tough to sweep a series, especially against a team like that," manager Jeff Banister said. "After the first couple of innings we continued to battle. We battled back and put runs on the board and got back in the game."

Oakland was swept over the weekend in Boston, blowing a four-run lead by allowing seven in the eighth inning of Sunday's 7-4 defeat.

"Today it looked like certainly early on and deeper into the game, we felt like we had a nice win to go home on and a 4-2 road trip but not much we can do about it now," Melvin said.

A's rookie center fielder Billy Burns is batting .346 over a 12-game hitting streak.

Updated June 8, 2015