Game 117: Rangers at Baltimore

Let's start out with the series at a glance... Baltimore is in last place in their division at 54-59, whereas the Rangers are second in their division. This is a 3 game series, with the final game on Sunday being an afternoon game, which the Rangers have started playing well in the afternoon. Here are the matchups and quick picks.

The Matchups:

• Jeremy Guthrie (8-8, 3.35 ERA) vs. Luis Mendoza (3-4, 7.00 ERA) - QP: Mendoza
• Daniel Cabrera (7-7, 4.97 ERA) vs. Vicente Padilla (12-5, 4.59 ERA) - QP: Padilla
• Dennis Sarfate (4-2, 4.58 ERA) vs. Matt Harrison (3-2, 6.46 ERA) - QP: Sarfate

Let's start with Guthrie. He has four games against the Rangers, two starts, and is 1-0 with a 5.52 ERA in 14.2 innings. The Rangers hit him at .298, but the Rangers hit him for a .308 batting average earlier this season when the Orioles beat the Rangers 10-4 in Baltimore on July 4th. The most at-bats a Ranger has against Guthrie is six, Michael Young and Catalanotto have those...

Notable Rangers:

• Frank Catalanotto: 3-6 with a double
• Ian Kinsler: 2-5 with an RBI
• Travis Metcalf: 1-2 with a double

The current Ranger roster is 12-41 (.293 BA) with 3 doubles and 3 RBIs. That's right, no HRs. And I would have to say that will change with this game. Guthrie is coming off a complete game against the Mariners. He has pitched at least six innings in all but one of his last nine starts. He has 156 innings this season and has handed out 17 HRs. Last season, he gave up 23 HRs in 175.1 innings.

Luis Mendoza has one start against Baltimore, on September 21st, 2007 where he went 5 innings, giving four hits and a walk. One of those hits was a solo HR by Miguel Tejada (now with the Astros), so his ERA is 1.80 against Baltimore. The current roster is 1-9 against Mendoza with Millar having the only hit. Outside of all that info... that's all I got, really.Baltimore (historically) bats .222 against Mendoza.

Dates to Remember:

• Sept. 1 - Active rosters expand to 40 players
• Sept. 3 - Roberto Clemente Day
• Sept. 28 - Final day of the regular season
• Dec. 8-11 - Winter meetings, Las Vegas
• Dec. 11 - Rule V Draft
• Dec. 12 - Last date to tender contracts for 2009

Forecast: Mendoza has one start against Baltimore, which was his first ML win. Guthrie also has a good start against the Rangers, but not as good as Mendoza. And that is what I have to weigh out... the Rangers are coming in from Texas, whereas Baltimore has a day off to rest... both teams have recent success, however, Baltimore is 1-3 in their last four games. Rangers help continue the Baltimore down-swing with a 5-2 victory.

Home Plate