So, we have the third and final game of this three game series. The Sox send out Gavin Floyd, while the Rangers send out Matt Harrison to the mound.
Over the past three seasons, Floyd has a 5.06 ERA in April, but throws well against the Rangers with a 3.04 ERA and a 2-2 record... in his career six starts, he is 2-3 with a 4.73 ERA. His ERA has gone up in each of his last three seasons, and has a losing season in last two.
Rangers vs. Floyd:
- Adrian Beltre: .238 (5-21) with a double and 2 RBIs
- Nelson Cruz: .111 (1-9) with 3 strikeouts.
- Josh Hamilton: .600 (6-10) with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs
- Ian Kinsler: .231 (3-13) with a homerun and 2 RBIs.
- Michael Young: .267 (4-15) with two doubles and a RBI.
The current Rangers roster bats .265 (30-113) with 8 doubles, a triple (Julio Borbon), 3 homeruns (Kinsler, Murphy, and Napoli) and 13 RBIs.
The Rangers offense is struggling coming out of the gate, Cruz is 1-6, Napoli 1-7, Andrus 1-8 and Beltre 0-7... for a combined 3-28 or a .107 batting average.
So, considering the current trend vs. historical trend... Cruz will continue to struggle tonight. And it doesn't look great for Beltre, Andrus, and Napoli.
Harrison is a career 2-0 against the Sox in five starts. He has a 3.54 ERA against Chicago and is coming off a 3.39 ERA season where he pulled down a 14-9 record.
Sox vs. Harrison:
- Paul Konerko: .091 (1-11) with a double and a RBI
- Brent Lillibridge: .300 (3-10) with a RBI
- Brent Morel: .500 (2-4) with a triple and a homerun. 3 RBIs.
- Alexi Ramirez: .333 (3-9) with a RBI
- Alex Rios: .429 (3-7) with a RBI
Forecast: Harrison is going to have to pitch one heck of a game to keep these Rangers in this one. He's the right pitcher for this job, but the main concern is will our hitting show up? I can't see those four staying in this opening slump for terribly long, but today is not going to be the day they break out of it. Look for a low scoring game, with the White Sox taking it away from the Rangers once again. Score 3-2.
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