Game 6: Rangers (4-1) vs. Mariners (3-3)

A familiar face comes to visit... hopefully we will make sure it isn't a pleasant visit.

Millwood's first start of the season for the Mariners. Is there a team that Millwood hasn't pitched for in his career? He's on his seventh team and fourth in his last four seasons. I'd list them, but I need to conserve space, so what I'll do is just list the important ones: Texas Rangers.

Millwood has some history against the Rangers, whose current roster bats .289 with 6 HRs and 14 RBIs. His last start against the Rangers, he gave up six runs in six innings in a loss. The Rangers clocked two homeruns, one by Vlad and one by Josh and they both were three run shots. That game was back on 8/22/10.

Colby Lewis has done well against the Mariners the past couple of seasons, going 4-2 with a 2.45 ERA in seven starts. He's also averaged 7.1 innings per start on the M's and fanned more than one per inning in the process.

Mariners vs Lewis:

• Ichiro Suzuki bats .375 (18-48) with a double, triple, and 5 RBIs.
• Franklin Gutierrez bats .375 (6-16) with a double, 2 homeruns, and 5 RBIs.
• Chone Figgins hits .313 (5-16) with a double and an RBI.
• Justin Smoak hits .750 (3-4) with a double, HR, and an RBI.

The current Mariner roster is batting .275 (41-149) on Lewis with 7 doubles, a triple, 4 homeruns, and 16 RBIs.

Forecast: Another close game? Maybe so. But my gut is telling me the Mariners take this one... not sure why. This is probably be something like 5-3, Mariners, but obviously that is not what I want to happen. Maybe I'm wrong this time? One can hope.

Game 1: Rangers vs. White Sox

The season opener, Rangers Colby Lewis takes on a former Rangers prospect John Danks. Both are making their first career season opener starts, so NO PRESSURE! HA!

Danks is 1-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his career against the Rangers. He went 8-12 last season with a 4.33 ERA and has a career 54-56 mark with a 4.03 ERA.

Rangers against Danks:

• Ian Kinsler is batting .360 (9-25) with 2 doubles, 3 homeruns, and 4 RBIs. 
• Elvis Andrus is batting .455 (5-11) with a double and 2 RBIs.
• Adrian Beltre is batting .231 (6-26) with a double, 2 homeruns, and 5 RBIs.
• Josh Hamilton is batting .357 (5-14) with a double, a homerun, and 3 RBIs.
• Nelson Cruz is batting .353 (6-17) with 2 doubles, a homerun, and 2 RBIs.

In April of last year, Lewis didn't do so hot. he threw 30 innings of work and pitched a 5.70 ERA, so YUCK! I don't know if that will carry over to this season, but the last two years, he has a 4.16 ERA and a 5-3 record.  Against the White Sox, he has a 1-1 record and a 2.95 ERA over the last two years, so let's hope that is what continues and his weak April last year become what it already is: HISTORY.

Last season, Lewis tossed a 14-10 record while posting a 4.40 ERA. The current roster of the White Sox against Lewis bat .214 off him, and have only one homerun (Alex Rios) and five RBIs (led by Paul Konerko's 3, Rios has the other 2) in 70 at bats.

Forecast: I like the Rangers in this one. Lewis has the overall numbers I like to see. I think that he should continue his dominance over the ChiSox with the Rangers winning 6-3.