The Rangers are in first place, even after that "no so great game". And that is me being rather nice about how the Rangers got stomped yesterday. LA Dodgers are the only team to not hit the double digits in the loss column. Washington is the only team to not get to 10 wins. The Nationals still need to win two to get there.
The Angels should be on watch. They are 7-3 in their last ten, as is the Rangers. Seattle has lost four in a row.
Harrison's previous start was against the White Sox in Arlington. He got the win by going five innings, yeilding six hits and ZERO runs. Contreras' last start was also against the Rangers, going 3.1 innings and that yeilded seven runs off of seven hits. Harrison has done well as a starter, well at least over his last three starts, anyway. His last three shows that he has a 5.06 ERA and a 2-0 record, which for the season, he has five starts, a 2-2 record, and a 6.41 ERA. He's getting better. - Alexei Ramirez is 2-4.
- Jim Thome is 2-2 with two doubles and a RBI.
Jose Contreras is having a tough start this season. He is 0-4 with a 8.31 ERA. He has been consistently hammered this season, yeilding at least four runs in all but one of his starts thus far. He also hasn't thrown more than 100 pitches in any of his starts. The White Sox have lost everytime he has taken the mound this season.
Contreras has five career starts against the Rangers and is 1-2 with a 10.17 ERA. It is the second worst ERA against any team. He has one start against Philly and has a 13.50 ERA against them. With two or more starts, the Rangers hold the best numbers against him by far. Oddly enough, he has never faced the Rangers at home.
Rangers to Watch:
- Ian Kinsler is 6-8 (.750) with four doubles and four RBIs.
- David Murphy is 3-6 with a double.
- Crush Davis is 2-4 with a double and a RBI.
As a team, the Rangers are 19-61 (.311) with eight doubles, a HR (by Blalock), and twelve RBIs. There are some other notable things to think about. Michael Young is 2-14 off of him. Hank Blalock is 1-9 (and we know what that one was, plus he does have four RBIs). Josh Hamilton is 0-3 off Contreras.
Forecast: I think this game will be a little closer than what we are used to seeing in a Contreras matchup. Why? Well, Contreras is playing at home. Still, I expect the Rangers to somehow pull together four or five runs off of him. It should be led by Max Ramirez, Ian Kinsler, Murphy, and Crush.
(UPDATE @ 4:45PM) Not sure why I didn't give a prediction... that's just not like me. Rangers win this with a score of 7-4.
1 Random Thoughts:
Wot?! No predicted score!?
Post a Comment