Texas @ Tampa Bay preview
Tropicana Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2011 ) Tampa Bay 2, Texas 7
THE STORY: The Texas Rangers have won three straight series, but can’t quite slip away from the Los Angeles Angels. The Rangers won two of three against the Angels, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox and lead the American League West by just 3 1/2 games. It won’t get any easier for Texas as it visits the Rays Monday to start a three-game series against James Shields. Texas recorded 28 runs in the three-game series at Boston. The Rays won their last two to creep within eight games of the Boston Red Sox in the wild-card race. Texas has won four of the six games in 2011, including two of three at the Rays May 30-June 1.
TV: 1:10 p.m. EST; FS-SW (Texas), SunSports (Tampa Bay).
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Scott Feldman (1-0, 2.86 ERA) vs. Rays RH James Shields (13-10, 2.84 ERA).
Feldman shut out the Rays last Tuesday, giving up just two hits over six innings for the victory in his first start of the season. He is 4-1 lifetime against the Rays with a 1.41 ERA over 32 innings. Evan Longoria is just 1-for-10 against Feldman and Kelly Shoppach is 4-for-15.
Shields shut out the Rangers over eight innings Wednesday, improving to 4-1 in his last five decisions. He has given up one or less runs in four of his last six starts and needs one strikeout for his first 200-strikeout season. Shields is 4-2 with a 3.42 ERA over 50 innings in his career against Texas. Elvis Andrus is 5-for-9 against Shields.
ABOUT THE RANGERS (80-61): Adrian Beltre has made a difference since returning from the disabled list. He has four RBIs in as many games while also reaching 2,000 hits in his career. Outfielder David Murphy has also been outstanding, getting more playing time with Nelson Cruz injured. Murphy has a 10-game hitting streak, going 18-for-41 with three homers and 12 RBIs. Lead-off hitter Ian Kinsler, who is still batting just .245, has also been hot with four homers and eight RBIs in the last four games. Michael Young, who is making a run at the batting title, is 7-for-21 in the last six games to keep his average at .336 overall.
ABOUT THE RAYS (76-63): Matt Joyce batted just .179 in June and July combined, but is slowly recapturing the success he had in April and May when he hit .321 and .414, respectively. Joyce has just three homers, but is 25-for-85 (.294) since Aug. 1 and has five RBIs in his last five games to give him 63 for the season. Rookie outfielder Brandon Guyer, who batted .312 at Triple-A Durham, is likely to get a lot of time in September. He homered in his first major league at-bat on May 6, but is 1-for-12 since. Ben Zobrist (neck stiffness) and B.J. Upton, who was rested Sunday, should return to the lineup Monday.
FINAL PITCH: The Rangers are skipping Alexi Ogando in the rotation this time through. Ogando (12-7) has not gotten into the fifth inning his last two starts. He is scheduled to pitch Saturday against the Oakland Athletics.