All the planning Steve Buechele and Jeff Banister did before the Texas Rangers manager left to visit his ailing mother in southeast Texas was seemingly all for naught after the Oakland A’s switched starting pitchers for Saturday.
They scratched left-hander Sean Manaea some four hours before first pitch and replaced him with right-hander Raul Alcantara after the Rangers had loaded their lineup with right-handed hitters.
Going righty-heavy meant that the lefty-hitting Shin-Soo Choo was off and Delino DeShields was in. But despite the A’s switch, the Rangers did not back away from an off day for Choo.