Texas will really need to play well to win two of these three games as they are facing some elite pitchers on Boston’s side. While the Red Sox haven’t completely clicked yet this season, they have everything needed to make a playoff run and doing well in this series against a tough foe would be a nice step forward.
This series will be contested from Tuesday, May 23 through Thursday, May 25, 2017 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The Wednesday and Thursday contests will be televised on MLB Network.
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Pitching Matchups
The Rangers will send Andrew Cashner to the hill in Tuesday’s opener. He is 1-3 on the season with a 2.45 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. Cashner has two more walks than strikeouts on the season, so his ERA is a total mirage and will likely balloon unless his peripheral numbers improve. Boston will send Rick Porcello to the hill. He is just 2-5 on the season with a 4.23 ERA but is striking out better than a batter per inning and has impressive control, so he should soon see better results.
Texas is scheduled to start Martin Perez on Wednesday. He is 2-5 with a 3.71 ERA. While Perez is solid, the Red Sox will be heavy favorites for a second straight game as they will send superstar Chris Sale to the hill. He is 4-2 with a 2.19 ERA and has struck out 95 batters in only 65.2 innings pitched, a ridiculous ratio for a starting pitcher.
The Red Sox could very well be looking for the sweep of their first two starters live up to their billing. Nick Martinez will start for the Rangers in the finale on Thursday. He is 1-2 on the season with a 4.33 ERA and threw five shutout innings last time out against the Tigers. Boston will counter with Drew Pomeranz, who is 3-3 with a 4.97 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. Pomeranz has 45 strikeouts in 38 innings but has been hurt by the long ball, so he will try to keep the ball in the park against Texas.
Road Woes
The Rangers have won nine of their past 10 games overall to help vault them over .500 on the season, but they have struggled on the road this season. Texas has won just eight of 21 contests away from their ballpark on the year, compared to a 16-8 record at home.
Texas went on the big portion of its recent run at home reeling off eight straight wins over the Padres, Athletics and Phillies. The Rangers have been a bit better on the road of late, too. They won a series finale in San Diego and then took two of three from the Tigers most recently, and will aim to bring that momentum into Boston.
It won’t be easy, though, as the Red Sox are 12-9 at home this year.
Putting The Ball In Play
The Red Sox haven’t put up the power numbers they’ve hoped quite yet, but the offense should be good based on some early returns from the top of the order. The Red Sox have several players who rarely strike out, which leads to a solid batting average.
Mookie Betts leads the way, as he has 18 walks against only 14 strikeouts in 163 at-bats. He is hitting .282 with seven homers and 28 RBIs and still should improve moving forward. Dustin Pedroia also has more walks than strikeouts this season, although he isn’t as big of a power hitter as some of the other hitters in the lineup.
Xander Bogaerts is hitting .320 on the season and should finish above .300 on the season, although he has yet to hit a home run and needs to start hitting some long balls to really fulfill his promise. Andrew Benintendi is another player who handles the bat well.
The Rangers pitchers will have their hands full in this series against the impressive Boston lineup.
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