Chris Bassitt is on quite a roll for the Oakland Athletics since being their opening day starter and then losing his first two games. He hasn’t lost since. Bassitt limited Texas to five singles while pitching seven innings to win his eighth consecutive decision, the longest winning streak by an American League pitcher this season, as the A's beat the Rangers 5-1 on Thursday for a series split.

Oakland Athletics (46-31, second in the AL West) vs. San Francisco Giants (48-26, first in the NL West) San Francisco; Friday, 9:45 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Sean Manaea (6-3, 3.01 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 89 strikeouts) Giants: Johnny Cueto (5-3, 4.05 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 47 strikeouts) LINE: Giants -100, Athletics -116; over/under is 8 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: San Francisco heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Kevin Gausman.

He logged 100-plus pitches for the fifth time this season and has worked seven or more innings in six of his past 10 outings. Every game I want it to be my game, as deep as I can go, as long as I can go,” Bassitt said. And obviously, with the success I’ve kind of had, (manager Bob Melvin) trusts me to do that.

Toronto, forced from home by Canadian government coronavirus restrictions, is playing home games at the field of its Triple-A team in Buffalo, New York. MINOR RETURNS Royals left-hander Mike Minor (6-4, 4.48) is set to pitch at Texas for the first time since the Rangers traded him to Oakland late last season. The 33-year-old Minor was 26-23 with a 4.00 ERA over three seasons with Texas.

Canha did not start Wednesday night’s game but pinch-hit in the eighth inning and stayed in to play first base. Melvin said Thursday that Canha did not start that game in part because the hip “was a little sore. Canha started Thursday in left field and took two at-bats before Tony Kemp replaced him on defense in the bottom of the third inning.

I think its going to be a really good pitch for me down the stretch."

Melvin said the evaluation revealed “nothing structural as far as needing surgery at this point,” but Fiers will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection and probably not resume throwing “for up to four weeks. It’s going to be a while before he even starts playing catch again,” Melvin said before the A’s series finale at Texas. Fiers, who re-signed with Oakland on a one-year, $3.5 million deal in the offseason, has made two starts between stints on the IL.

Chris Bassitt pitched seven innings to win his eighth consecutive decision, Jed Lowrie drove in runs with a single and a no-doubt home run and the Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers 5-1 on Thursday for a series split. Bassitt (8-2) started Oakland's opener and lost his first two games. He's gone 8-0 with a 2.95 ERA in 14 starts since for the longest winning streak among American League pitchers this season.

Jed Lowrie powers Athletics past Rangers

The Texas Rangers scored one run but the Oakland Athletics scored five runs. Kolby Allard inherited the first inning curse today as the lefty allowed three A’s runs before the Rangers had even stepped into the batter’s box. Given a three-run lead, Oakland starter Chris Bassitt went to work for seven innings of one-run ball as the A’s were able to take the finale and leave Texas with a series tie.

Oakland Athletics right-hander Mike Fiers likely won't throw for at least another four weeks after an injection for his sprained right elbow. Manager Bob Melvin said Thursday that Fiers, who last pitched May 6, won't need surgery after he felt discomfort when trying to resume throwing this week. Fiers, who has made only two starts this season and hasn't pitched since May 6, visited with Dr. James Andrews on Wednesday.

Hurdler CeCe Telfer will not be allowed to compete in the U.S. Olympic trials this week because she has not met World Athletics standards for transgender athletes, USA Track and Field said. Telfer had hoped to participate in the women's 400 metres hurdles, the qualifying rounds for which are scheduled for Friday at the trials in Eugene, Oregon. "While CeCe Telfer has met the performance qualification standard, she has not met the conditions established in the World Athletics ‘Eligibility Regulations for Transgender Athletes’ and is therefore ineligible to compete," USA Track and Field said in a statement.

Oakland has an impressive history of finding value from unlikely sources, with Tony Kemp being a recent example. Scott Pianowski looks around fantasy baseball.

Texas Rangers lineup for June 24, 2021 against the Oakland Athletics: starting pitchers are LHP Kolby Allard for the Rangers and RHP Chris Bassitt for the A’s. The Rangers beat their division rivals from the West Coast last evening thanks to a flurry of late home runs. Two of those came via Adolis Garcia who is now one of just six hitters with at least 20 dingers this season.

Oakland Athletics (45-31, second in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (27-47, fifth in the AL West) Arlington, Texas; Thursday, 2:05 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Chris Bassitt (7-2, 3.40 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 98 strikeouts) Rangers: Kolby Allard (2-2, 2.93 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, 43 strikeouts) FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Rangers +135, Athletics -156; over/under is 8 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics travel to take on the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

Joey Gallo flies out to center field to Skye Bolt. run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 0 left on. Rangers 2, Athletics 0.

The Oakland A’s were on their way to a comeback victory in the late innings Wednesday, but the Texas Rangers charged right back. The A’s waited until the 7th inning to score and used that rally to take the lead, but the bullpen couldn’t hold on and Oakland fell 5-3 to the Rangers. The game began with a pitcher’s duel between James Kaprielian and Mike Foltynewicz, as both starters breezed through four scoreless innings.

For me, slowing the game down and not letting things get too big."

My spin rates have been pretty much the same my whole career, if I can recall, based on the fact that I don’t ever use anything. Umpires on Monday began doing substance checks of all pitchers who appear in a game, mostly between innings and involving a quick check of the pitcher’s glove, hat and belt. MLB introduced the policy this month in response to what it termed “a prevalence of foreign substance use by pitchers” in the majors and minors.

The Oakland A’s injured list has dwindled in recent weeks as several players have returned to health, but there are still a couple of notable pitchers out of action. Two of them got updates this week, but they’re headed in opposite directions. The news for reliever Trevor Rosenthal is good.