Texas @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 17, 2015 ) Texas 5, LA Dodgers 3

On May 3, the Texas Rangers fell a season-worst eight games below .500 with a home loss to Oakland. The Rangers, who are a league-best 28-14 since that setback, look to collect their 21st win in 28 contests Thursday when they attempt to complete a four-game, home-and-home sweep against the host Los Angeles Dodgers.

Texas (36-30) improved to 16-7 on the road over that 42-game span Wednesday, getting the best of reigning National League MVP and Dallas native Clayton Kershaw in a 5-3 victory. Designated hitter Prince Fielder, who leads the AL with a .344 batting average and was supposed to get the night off, made his 11th start at first base and recorded his league-high 28th multi-hit effort — including a ninth-inning solo shot to end a 17-game homer drought. The Dodgers, who went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position Wednesday and are 4-for-29 in those situations while dropping four of their last five, have averaged 2.4 runs during their recent funk. Los Angeles will look to avoid back-to-back losses at home for only the third time this season and may catch a break in that regard Thursday as Anthony Ranaudo takes the big-league mound for the first time since getting pounded for six runs in 1 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Angels on April 15.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Southwest (Texas), SportsNet LA (Los Angeles)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Anthony Ranaudo (0-1, 32.40 ERA) vs. Dodgers RH Zack Greinke (5-2, 1.95)

In an effort to give their starters another day of rest, the Rangers are expected to recall Ranaudo from Triple-A Round Rock for his second major-league start of the season. The 25-year-old New Jersey native, who went 4-3 with a 4.81 ERA over seven late-season outings with Boston last year, is 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA in 11 minor-league turns in 2015. Ranaudo went 1-1, 5.40 in interleague play last year after making his big-league debut Aug. 1.

Greinke has yielded two runs or fewer six times in his last seven starts, but fell to 0-2 over that span despite allowing two runs on eight hits while fanning seven during a hard-luck complete-game 2-1 loss at San Diego on Saturday. The 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner has been the victim of poor run support in most of those outings as the Dodgers have scored two or fewer runs in five of his last six turns. Greinke, who hasn’t opposed the Rangers since 2012, is 3-5 with a 2.84 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) versus Texas.

WALK-OFFS

1. Texas is 61-38 in interleague play since the beginning of the 2010 season, with the resulting .616 winning percentage serving as the best mark by an AL team in that stretch.

2. Dodgers 1B Adrian Gonzalez is 1-for-13 in this series and batting .208 in his last 19 games.

3. Fielder played Wednesday in place of 1B Kyle Blanks, who sat due to inflammation in both Achilles tendons.

PREDICTION: Dodgers 5, Rangers 3