September is the time out-of-contention teams call up some of their young prospects to give them major league experience and see what they have. The Texas Rangers will turn to Glenn Otto for a third time this season as they go to Oakland to face the Athletics on Friday.

Otto was acquired in late July from the New York Yankees as part of the deal for Joey Gallo. He has been solid in his two starts, allowing two runs and one walk across 9 ²/₃ innings. That lines up well with his minor league numbers, as he went 9-4 with a 3.20 ERA for three teams with 0.6 home runs allowed and 12.6 strikeouts per nine innings.

Otto will face Paul Blackburn of the Athletics, who has had a much better go of things in 2021 after having a combined 9.22 ERA and 2-6 record the last three seasons. He has given up three runs or fewer in three of his four starts. In Oakland, he has allowed two runs and walked just one in 10 ²/₃ innings.

The Athletics have played three of Blackburn’s four starts under the total and face a Rangers team that is last in the majors in runs per game since the All-Star break with 3.5.

The Athletics have had offensive woes in Oakland, ranking ahead of only Seattle and Texas in the AL in runs per game at home (4.1). With the Rangers having allowed four runs or fewer in five of their last six games, both offense will be stuck in neutral on Friday.

The Play: Rangers-Athletics total, Under 8.5 runs.