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Texas Rangers Roundup – May 12, 2014

ByLisa Weatherall|

May 4, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; Texas Rangers first baseman Prince Fielder (84) high-fives teammate right fielder Alex Rios (51) at the end of the Rangers 14-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

HOUSTON, Tex. – The Texas Rangers begin a  3-game series at Houston Astros tonight. This series begins a stretch of 5 of 8 against American League West teams after which the Rangers will not meet another A.L. West club until June 13. The Texas Rangers will start a 5-game homestand on Friday where they will play a 3-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays and a short 2-game series with the Seattle Mariners. Here is your Rangers Roundup.

TEXAS RANGERS: (19-19, .500)

  • Texas Rangers are now in 4th place, 0.5 GB 3rd place Seattle Mariners, 1.0 GB 2nd place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and 4.0 GB 1st place Oakland Athletics
  • The Rangers entered today with the 8th-best record in the American League
  • Texas is one of 8 clubs with a .500-or-better record in the A.L.
  • This is the latest date in a season for the Rangers to be anywhere other than 1st or 2nd place since 3rd place standing through games of 9/22/2008

TEXAS vs. HOUSTON:

  • Texas Rangers are 2-1 versus Houston Astros this season
  • Texas has won 19 of last 21 games
  • Texas tops any MLB head-to-head matchup since 2009 in winning percentage at .826
  • Rangers’ all-time lead versus Astros 61-33

RANGERS AT MINUTE MAID PARK:

  • Texas Rangers have won 9 consecutive games here since Opening Night loss in 2013
  • Texas won 9 straight to finish the 2013 season which is the longest streak to take place within a single season
  • Rangers’ 9 wins at Houston Astros last season were the highest single-season win total against one opponent on the road in club history
  • Texas Rangers have won last 7 series here

PRINCE OF MM PARK:

  • Prince Fielder has batted .324 (60-185) in 50 career games here
  • Fielder holds the highest average by any active player with a minimum of 200 plate appearances at Minute Maid Park
  • He has 15 HR in Houston, T4th-most by an opponent in MM Park history behind Jim Edmonds (16), Aramis Ramirez (23) and Albert Pujols (24). (I think that’s some good company!)
  • Since the start of 2011 Prince Fielder is batting .412 (21-51) with 4 doubles, 6 homers, 18 RBI in only 13 games here
  • Fielder’s 25 career home runs vs. Houston Astros are 2nd-most versus any opponent (PIT, 28)
  • Prince Fielder’s 80 RBI are THE MOST versus any opponent (Let’s hope that bat of his warms up tonight!)

COLBRA STRIKES:

  • Colby Lewis has not started at MM Park since 2012
  • Lewis is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA (4 ER/27.o IP) over 5 games/3 game starts in career here
  • His ERA is 3rd-lowest among active pitchers with at least 25.0 IP, behind San Francisco Giants’ Tim Lincecum (0.34) and Cincinnati Reds’ Homer Bailey (0.60)
  • Colby Lewis has recorded 24 strikeouts and issued only one walk in his 5 games/3 game starts at MM Park
  • His overall career 9 G/6 GS versus Houston Astros is 4-1 with a 1.72 ERA (9 ER/ 47.0 IP) and 46 K’s against 4 walks (I hope Colbra adds a great deal more K’s tonight)

RIOS GRANDE:

  • Alex Rios has team-lead 13 multi-hit attempts this season, T8th-most in the A.L.
  • Rios is batting .462 (6-13) with 2 walks over last 4 games
  • His current average of .315 is 8th in the A.L.
  • Alex Rios currently ranks among American League leaders in triples (T1st, 3), hits (T4th, 46) and singles (T5th, 32)
  • 27 of his 46 hits have come with runners on base, tied for most in the A.L. with Oakland Athletics’ Josh Donaldson

ALL ABOUT CHOO:

  • Shin-Soo Choo has hit safely in his last 11 road games, longest active streak in the A.L. and 2nd-longest in ML
  • Choo’s .513 average (20-39) and .615 OBP on the road both lead the majors

GRAND THEFT BASES:

  • Alex Rios stole 2 bases in yesterday’s game helping the Texas Rangers lead the A.L. in stolen bases (32)
  • The 32 SB ranks 2nd in the majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers (44)
  • The Rangers have been thrown out 12 times on steal attempts, also the A.L. lead
  • In the last 22 games Texas has 22 SB in 28 tries
  • The Texas Rangers have 3 of the top 11 basestealers in the American Lead: Elvis Andrus (T4th, 12), Leonys Martin (T7th, 9) and Alex Rios (T11th, 7)
  • The Rangers should be careful tonight in Houston with Jason Castro behind the plate, he has thrown out 8 of 30 would-be stealers this season, 2nd-most in the A.L.

INJURY UPDATE:

  • INF Jurickson Profar will go to extended spring training to continue his rehab and is likely to start as the DH in the games there today
  • RHP Tanner Scheppers is on the trip to Houston and will throw a bullpen Tuesday or Wednesday
  • LHP Joe Saunders is also on the Houston trip and will join Round Rock in Iowa on Thursday for his next rehab start (You were worried I was going to say he was staying, huh?)
  • INF Kevin Kouzmanoff has returned to his home in Colorado to continue his recover from Tuesday’s back surgery there for the next 2 weeks

MINOR MOVES:

  • INF Josh Wilson has accepted an outright assignment to Round Rock (AAA), he was DFA on May 8

THIS AND THAT:

  • Elvis Andrus extended his hit streak to 8 games yesterday, him and Alex Rios are the only Rangers with multiple hit streak of 8+ games this season
  • Shin-Soo Choo hit his team-leading 4th homer of the season yesterday, T2nd-most by an A.L. player batting first
  • Texas Rangers starters have logged the 2nd-fewest innings (54.2) in the A.L. and have the highest ERA (6.09) in ML during May

TONIGHT’S LINEUPS:

TEXAS RANGERS: RHP Colby Lewis (2-2, 6.12)

HOUSTON ASTROS: RHP Brad Peacock (0-3, 5.01)

ON DECK FOR TOMORROW:

I hope you have enjoyed today’s edition of Rangers Roundup. As always please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions below, I would LOVE to hear from you!

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