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Rangers, Tigers clash again Friday night
By: Freddy Wander - StatFox
Published: 5/23/2014  at  4:55:00 AM
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TEXAS RANGERS (23-24)

at DETROIT TIGERS (27-16)

First pitch: Friday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Detroit -180, Texas +170, Total: 8

Two of the most high-profile teams in the American League, the Rangers and Tigers, meet up for the second of a four-game series on Friday night.

After all of its big offseason acquisitions, Texas has put up some underwhelming performances thus far and currently sits in third place in the AL West. But after going 4-10 in a stretch of 14 games, the Rangers come into this game as winners of three of their past four games. In Thursday's series opener, Texas grabbed a big 9-2 victory over the Tigers as Yu Darvish moved to a flawless 5-0 against Detroit, and OF Shin-Soo Choo (.310 BA) went yard for the sixth time this season. Choo has now hit a home run in each of his past two games and is 3-for-6 with 3 RBI and four runs in those contests. The Tigers are going through their worst stretch of the season, as they are mired in a four-game losing skid. Before Thursday's loss to Texas, they were swept by division foe Cleveland, and have allowed 31 runs over the four defeats. Detroit’s starters have been horrendous in those contests, giving up 22 runs in 21.1 frames (9.28 ERA). Tigers 2B Ian Kinsler (.317), who is facing his old team this weekend, is riding an eight-game hitting streak, going 13-for-36 (.361) during the surge. Getting the call for the visiting Rangers will be veteran RHP Scott Baker (0-0, 3.38 ERA) as he pitches in his second game of the season. For the Tigers, RHP Anibal Sanchez (1-2, 2.89 ERA) will look for his second straight victory and the team’s first since his last outing on Sunday. Texas has been OK on the road this year at 10-11, while Detroit is 13-9 in its home games. With Thursday’s loss, the Tigers have gone 11-7 in this matchup over the past three seasons while splitting eight games (4-4) at Comerica Park. Both teams have positive betting trends for this contest, as the Rangers are now 11-1 when facing a top-level team (62%+ win pct.) over the past two seasons, but Detroit is 11-1 versus AL teams allowing 4.7 runs or less per game this season. The big news out of Texas is the injury to 1B Prince Fielder (neck), who is scheduled for season-ending surgery on Tuesday. The team also got news that stud prospect 2B Jurickson Profar re-injured his shoulder on Monday, and is also expected to miss the remainder of the season.

Scott Baker will earn a spot-start with all the injuries to the Rangers rotation and he has started just three games in the majors since the 2011 season. He did very well in six starts at the Triple-A level this season though, going 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA and 1.21 WHIP while striking out 30 batters in 38 innings (7.1 K/9). He has had one appearance for Texas already this year in a long relief role, going 5.1 frames while giving up two runs on four hits and one walk with two strikeouts against the Rockies. Baker has faced the Tigers 23 times in his career, going 7-5 with a 4.71 ERA and 1.34 WHIP while allowing 19 home runs in 130 innings. Both 1B Miguel Cabrera (12-for-35, 3 HR, 11 RBI) and DH Victor Martinez (12-for-39, 1 HR, 5 RBI) have had no trouble when facing Baker, while C Alex Avila (1-for-9, 5 K’s) is the only player in the lineup who has really struggled in the matchup. The Rangers bullpen has combined to go 9-9 with a 4.23 ERA and 1.36 WHIP, and is 9-for-15 (60%) in save chances. But these numbers are even more dreadful on the road where Texas relievers carry a 5.98 ERA and 1.62 WHIP. Closer Joakim Soria (2.25 ERA, 8 saves) has been perfect in his save opportunities and has struck out 21 batters in 16 innings while not allowing a home run.

Anibal Sanchez should provide a big lift to this rotation and he already had a positive influence after winning his first game off the DL against the Red Sox on Sunday. In that outing, he went five innings and allowed only two runs (1 ER) on five hits and three walks while striking out three. He has struggled with his control so far in his first 28 frames this year, walking 14 batters, but has yet to allow a home run. Sanchez has faced the Rangers three times in his career with very poor results, going 0-3 with a 9.49 ERA and 2.51 WHIP, while serving up three homers, 24 hits and seven walks in just 12.1 innings on the mound. 3B Adrian Beltre is 4-for-5 with 3 RBI against Sanchez in his career while SS Elvis Andrus (3-for-10, 2 RBI) has also done well. 1B Mitch Moreland (1-for-3, 1 HR) is the only player in the Texas lineup who has had a homer in this matchup, while OF Alex Rios has gone 0-for-5 with two strikeouts against the righty. Detroit’s relievers have been better than recent years, but are still just 6-6 with a 4.22 ERA and 1.25 WHIP, and are 13-for-18 (72%) in save opportunities. The numbers have been much worse at home though where the bullpen carries a 5.16 ERA and 1.37 WHIP. Joe Nathan (4.08 ERA, 11 saves) has blown three saves this year and is coming off an outing on Wednesday where he blew a save against the Indians with Detroit eventually losing 11-10 in 13 innings.


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