Athletics Vs. Rangers Series Preview: TV Schedule, Probable Pitchers & More

The Oakland Athletics faltered a bit by losing a couple of heartbreakers in the Bronx over the weekend, but they're still sitting pretty in the Wild Card standings. The A's may now have loftier goals, however.

The A's can hold steady over their final two weeks and grab a Wild Card berth for a one-game play-in, or they can go for the gusto and attempt to capture the American League West. That goal may not be as preposterous as it may have seemed last month.

Oakland will head to Arlington on Monday to kick off a massive four-game series against the first-place Texas Rangers. When that series kicks off, the A's will only be ... four games behind Texas for first place in the West. If the A's manage to sweep the series, they'll leave town in a tie.

It gets better: the A's will have another three-game series against the Rangers back in Oakland before the season wraps up. It's entirely possible that the Athletics could manage to leapfrog Texas and knock them back to Wild Card contenders. Everything would have to go perfectly, of course, but the A's have made a brisk trade in disproving the naysayers this season. It's time to start thinking big.

TV Schedule & Probable Pitchers

Monday's game will begin at 5:05 p.m. PT and will be televised on CSN California. You can catch the radio broadcast on 95.7 FM The Game. Dan Straily will enter the game searching for his third win and have to contend with Derek Holland, who appears to be returning to form.

Tuesday's first pitch will be at 5:05 p.m. PT and the game will be televised on CSN California. You can catch the radio broadcast on 95.7 FM The Game. Tom Milone goes for his 14th win but faces very tough competition in Yu Darvish, who enters the game with a 16-9 record and a 3.90 ERA.

Wednesday's game will get started at 5:05 p.m. PT and will be televised on CSN California and ESPN. You can catch the radio broadcast on 95.7 FM The Game. Jarrod Parker has one win over the Rangers already this season and the A's would love nothing more than for him to add a second. Texas will send Martin Perez to the hill. Perez is currently 1-2 with a 3.78 ERA.

The finale on Thursday will kick off at 11:05 a.m. PT and will not be televised locally. You can catch the radio broadcast on 95.7 FM The Game. Travis Blackley has really stepped up for the A's in the second half. He'll need to be at the top of his game to give Oakland a win in the finale. The Rangers will counter with their ace Matt Harrison, who is 17-10 with a 3.17 ERA.

For more on the Oakland Athletics, join the discussion over at Athletics Nation. For all news and information regarding the Texas Rangers, please visit Lone Star Ball or stop by SB Nation Dallas. You can also check out everything we have to offer at Baseball Nation.