Ranger/Rays – Holland vs Davis Preview

The Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Rays today in a rematch of ALDS opponents. The three game series with the Rays starts with a matchup of Derek Holland against Wade Davis –

Rangers’ fans remember the last time the team visited Tropicana Field. The boys won all three games in Tampa to advance to the American League Championship Series. Despite the Rangers recent playoff success against the Rays, Texas has lost 13 of the last 16 regular-season games played at Tropicana Field.

Holland (3-1 4.68 ERA) has not picked up a decision in his last six starts. Last Tuesday he threw for only four innings and allowed four runs. Two of the Rangers very best bats are excellent against Holland, Evan Longoria is 7 for 11 and B.J. Upton is 4 for 7.

Davis (4-4 3.71 ERA) has been a back of the rotation type pitcher for the Rays. Davis has not been excellent, but he also hasn’t been terrible. Tuesday against the Tigers he allowed five runs in six innings.

We saw good things from Texas over the weekend, picking up two of three against Kansas City. Yesterday for the first time all season the Rangers overcame a three-run deficit to win the game. The key to this one will be getting runs against the starter. Even after an offseason that stripped the Rays bullpen, they continue to get the job done.

The Game starts at 5:40 central time, a rare occurrence to have a night game start before six. Personally this is a lot more welcome than the 9pm central starts we get when the team visits the west coast. The game will be on Fox Sports Southwest and 103.3 FM ESPN Dallas Radio.

-Jonathan