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MLB
Friday, July 3
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Game of the day: Rays at Rangers
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Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers (+120, 10.5)
East vs. West
The Rays and Rangers will hook up for the first time this season in Arlington Friday.
Only a half-game separates them in the American League standings, with the Rays holding the slim lead.
Tampa Bay took six of nine meetings a year ago, including four out of six in Texas. The Rays are now 11-5 in the last 16 matchups in the series.
Pitching matchup
Game 1 matches Scott Kazmir against Tommy Hunter.
Kazmir made his first start since May 20 against Florida last Saturday. He was effective over five innings, giving up only four hits and two runs while striking out five and walking one.
The Rays left-hander was on a pitch count in that start, but should be able to work deeper into the ball game Friday.
Kazmir owns an ugly 7.28 ERA this season, but hasn't been nearly as shaky on the road, where he is 3-1 with an ERA just north of four.
In seven previous starts against the Rangers, Kazmir is undefeated. He helped the Rays go 3-0 against the Rangers last season, winning twice here in Texas.
Tommy Hunter's first taste of the big leagues was more sour than sweet.
In three starts with the Rangers last August, Hunter gave up six, five, and nine earned runs.
This year has gone much better for Hunter. In two starts this season, he has given up only five earned runs. The Rangers split those two games, defeating the A's 6-3 and losing to the Padres 2-0.
Not surprisingly, Hunter has never faced the Rays.
Home on the range
The Rangers continue to make hay at home, where they're eight games above .500 this season.
The road hasn't been nearly as kind as Texas has suffered 18 losses compared to 17 victories.
They should have plenty of confidence after posting back-to-back wins against the rival Angels earlier this week, but don't tell that to Hank Blalock.
“If you think one game is more important than another, that means you’re not trying to win against a team with a worse record,” Blalock told the media. “You’ve got to take every game as serious as you can because once it gets later in the year, you start thinking about the games you let slip away.”
Even though Kazmir has owned them in the past, they have hit well against lefties at home this season, to the tune of a collective .284 BA.
Rays on a roll
Things looked bleak for the defending AL champs back in May. Was their World Series run a fluke?
Since May 29, the Rays have looked every bit like the team that played into late October last season.
They're 21-9 over their last 30 games, pulling themselves within five games of the division leading Red Sox, and two-and-a-half games behind the Wild Card leading Yankees.
“We’re on a good roll right now,” Carl Crawford to reporters earlier this week. “Hopefully we can keep it up. We’re still climbing back up the standings. We’re just trying to get into a groove and stay there.”
They're still a losing club on the road at 18-23, but have won five of their last nine games away from Tropicana Field including back-to-back series wins in New York (Mets) and Toronto.
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Friday, July 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Game of the day: Rays at Rangers
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tampa Bay Rays at Texas Rangers (+120, 10.5)
East vs. West
The Rays and Rangers will hook up for the first time this season in Arlington Friday.
Only a half-game separates them in the American League standings, with the Rays holding the slim lead.
Tampa Bay took six of nine meetings a year ago, including four out of six in Texas. The Rays are now 11-5 in the last 16 matchups in the series.
Pitching matchup
Game 1 matches Scott Kazmir against Tommy Hunter.
Kazmir made his first start since May 20 against Florida last Saturday. He was effective over five innings, giving up only four hits and two runs while striking out five and walking one.
The Rays left-hander was on a pitch count in that start, but should be able to work deeper into the ball game Friday.
Kazmir owns an ugly 7.28 ERA this season, but hasn't been nearly as shaky on the road, where he is 3-1 with an ERA just north of four.
In seven previous starts against the Rangers, Kazmir is undefeated. He helped the Rays go 3-0 against the Rangers last season, winning twice here in Texas.
Tommy Hunter's first taste of the big leagues was more sour than sweet.
In three starts with the Rangers last August, Hunter gave up six, five, and nine earned runs.
This year has gone much better for Hunter. In two starts this season, he has given up only five earned runs. The Rangers split those two games, defeating the A's 6-3 and losing to the Padres 2-0.
Not surprisingly, Hunter has never faced the Rays.
Home on the range
The Rangers continue to make hay at home, where they're eight games above .500 this season.
The road hasn't been nearly as kind as Texas has suffered 18 losses compared to 17 victories.
They should have plenty of confidence after posting back-to-back wins against the rival Angels earlier this week, but don't tell that to Hank Blalock.
“If you think one game is more important than another, that means you’re not trying to win against a team with a worse record,” Blalock told the media. “You’ve got to take every game as serious as you can because once it gets later in the year, you start thinking about the games you let slip away.”
Even though Kazmir has owned them in the past, they have hit well against lefties at home this season, to the tune of a collective .284 BA.
Rays on a roll
Things looked bleak for the defending AL champs back in May. Was their World Series run a fluke?
Since May 29, the Rays have looked every bit like the team that played into late October last season.
They're 21-9 over their last 30 games, pulling themselves within five games of the division leading Red Sox, and two-and-a-half games behind the Wild Card leading Yankees.
“We’re on a good roll right now,” Carl Crawford to reporters earlier this week. “Hopefully we can keep it up. We’re still climbing back up the standings. We’re just trying to get into a groove and stay there.”
They're still a losing club on the road at 18-23, but have won five of their last nine games away from Tropicana Field including back-to-back series wins in New York (Mets) and Toronto.
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