New York @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Apr 18, 2010 ) Texas 2, NY Yankees 5
Forgive the Texas Rangers if thoughts of the postseason are creeping into their heads.
With an eight-game lead in the AL West, which represents the fattest cushion for any division leader in baseball, the Rangers should feel pretty secure about their playoff chances.
Then again, a quick glance at the upcoming schedule could provide a chance for the AL West to become unsettled very quickly.
Texas will host the New York Yankees in the opener of a brief two-game series Tuesday - starting a stretch where the Rangers will play a dozen consecutive games against AL East foes.
The series with the Yankees, who arrive in Arlington with the best record in baseball at 69-42, could be a possible postseason preview.
But, in an odd quirk in schedule, so could the Rangers' upcoming three-game home series with the Boston Red Sox that will be followed by a three-game trip against the host Tampa Bay Rays.
The Rays trail the Yankees by 1 1/2 games in the AL East and hold a 4 1/2-game lead over the Red Sox for the wild-card berth.
That's three teams the Rangers could conceivably see in the playoffs - unless, of course, all three happen to beat up on Texas, which could bring the Oakland Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim back into the AL West picture.
Considering Texas is 9-16 against the East this year, it’s not an unthinkable scenario.
The Yankees had a chance to bury the arch-rival Red Sox this weekend at Yankee Stadium, but could only hold serve and split the four-game series after dropping a 2-1 decision on Monday.
They will trot out A.J. Burnett to the mound on Tuesday. Burnett was scratched from Saturday’s start against Boston with back stiffness, which may have been caused by having to turn his head so quickly to view the missiles coming off the bats of his former teammates in his last outing.
Burnett (9-9) was hammered for eight runs on eight hits in 4 2/3 innings of an 8-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on Aug. 2, denying him a bid for a third straight victory.
The 33-year-old Burnett had one of his best starts of the year against Texas, tossing seven shutout innings and fanning seven during New York’s three-game sweep in mid-April.
He has had considerable success against the free-swinging Rangers since signing with the Yankees, going 3-1 in four starts while allowing just six runs and striking out 34 in 26 innings. Rangers designated hitter Vladimir Guerrero is just 10-for-45 lifetime with 11 strikeouts against Burnett.
Texas lefty C.J. Wilson (10-5) has seen plenty of the Yankees but all of it was as a reliever until this year, when he was converted to a starter.
Wilson allowed five runs – three earned – and seven hits in six innings of a 5-1 loss to the Yankees on April 16. He had won three straight starts before a rough outing against Seattle on Wednesday, lasting a season-low three innings and coughing up four runs on six hits.
Texas lost the final two of a three-game set with Oakland over the weekend, managing just four runs in both losses.