Series Preview: Texas Rangers Set To Host Yankees

Coming off a series in Chicago taking on the White Sox, the Texas Rangers will return home to host the New York Yankees for a three-game series.

The Texas Rangers (10-9) are headed back to Globe Life Park in Arlington to play hosts to the visiting New York Yankees (7-10) in a three game series starting Monday with first pitch at 7:05 CT.

Previous Series

The visiting New York Yankees are coming to Arlington off of a three-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays in which they picked up the first two games of the series and dropped the third. New York has struggled a bit as of late losing four of their past six games.

The Texas Rangers are fresh off a three-game away series against the Chicago White Sox where they were swept. The Rangers struggled to get the offense going the entire series on scoring four runs total in the three games.

Keys To The Series

The Texas Rangers are coming off a series where they were swept by a hot Chicago White Sox team and where the offense struggled to ever string together runs. They scored only four runs between three games including the first game where they were shutout. Texas will have to get more production out of their late order hitters to try and drive in some runs against the Yankees. They’re facing three pitchers from New York who have been prone to giving up runs so far, and they will have to take advantage of that if they want to pick up some wins against the Yanks.

Nomar Mazara continues to be an offensive catalyst for Texas and will continue to be if the Rangers are to have success moving forward. The 20-year old rookie scored Texas’ only run of the game Sunday against White Sox when he hit a solo homerun in the first inning against Mat Latos. Mazara has immense power but also a mature approach at the plate that has made itself evident over the first games of his Major League career. He gets on base which is key for Texas out of somebody who hits second in the order.

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The Rangers have not yet announced who will start in place of Cole Hamels who was scratched from his start tomorrow after being diagnosed with a groin strain. Hamels said he felt the issue in his last appearance and didn’t want it to become a lingering issue. It’s expected that he’ll just miss this single start but the Rangers will have to replace him for a day. Names thrown around as a replacement are those of Nick Tepesch and Cesar Ramos, neither of which are on the 40-man roster. To make room on the roster, Texas would have to move Keone Kela to the 60-day DL so he doesn’t count against it. Whichever player makes the start, they will be asked to keep the game close and let the offense do the job that they’ve done most of the year.

Projected Starters

Mon., 7:05 CT: TBD vs. Nathan Eovaldi (0-2, 6.11 ERA)

Tues., 7:05 CT: A.J. Griffin (2-0, 3.18 ERA) vs. Luis Severino (0-2, 4.86 ERA)

Wed., 7: 05 CT: Martin Perez (0-2, 4.50 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (1-1, 5.28 ERA)

Injury Report

New York:

Alex Rodriguez (U) – left oblique stiffness [day-to-day]

Aaron Hicks (CF) – left shoulder soreness [day-to-day; received injection, shut down 4-5 days]

Texas:

Cole Hamels (P) – groin strain [day-to-day; scratched from 4/25 start]

Keone Kela (P)- right elbow impingement [15-day DL; underwent surgery, out until July]

Shin Soo Choo (RF)– right calf strain [15-day DL]

Yu Darvish (P)– Tommy John surgery [15-day DL; making rehab start May 1st for Frisco]

Josh Hamilton (LF)– left knee surgery [15-day DL; made extended ST start on 4/23]

Outlook

With the Rangers going up against a Yankees rotation that has struggled to limit run damage, expect Texas’ offense to come out swinging. Texas is sitting one game above .500 after getting swept and will be eager to rebound. This series could really go any direction but I think it’s a safe bet to expect Texas to get two out of three games especially at home.

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