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The Guardians return home after a disappointing road trip where they went 2-5 against the Angels and Giants. Two of the losses were in extra innings and two others were by scores of 2-1 and 3-2. They managed only 23 runs in 7 games. They were awful at hitting with RISP and the bullpen blew a couple of leads.
At this point they are all but mathematically eliminated so the rest of the games are meaningless other than to evaluate players for next year.
The Rangers, OTOH, are a half game behind the Astros in the West and are battling for the division. The Rangers are 82-64 overall. They are +15 at home and +3 on the road. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are out and the Guardians will miss their best remaining starter, Nathan Eovaldi (11-4, 2.90), who pitched Thursday.
The Rangers have won six in a row and are coming off of a four-game sweep in Toronto. They averaged nearly 8 runs per game in those six wins. Prior to this win streak they lost 12 of 16 but it seems they have righted the ship.
The Rangers win mainly with bats as they rank 3rd in the majors in runs per game, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. They are 2nd in home runs per game at home but just 23rd on the road, so their home park helps their offense considerably. They still average 5.2 runs per game on the road.
The Rangers have an All-World infield. SS Cory Seager is hitting .340/1.055 with 30 homers and 89 RBI’s. 2B Marcus Semien is hitting .278/.816, 3B Josh Jung is at .274/.813, and 1B Nathaniel Lowe is hitting .277.811. C Mitch Garner is hitting .284/.926. The Rangers had a ton of All-Stars this year and their batting order is about as good as it gets. Jung is on the IL at the moment, however, and Garner had to leave last night’s game with a foot injury.
The most interesting part of this series will be to see how our rookie starters Bibee and Williams do against the highest scoring lineup in the A.L. Both of them held the Rangers to 2 runs in Texas two months ago. Now that the Rangers have seen them it will be interesting to see if they can have more success.
Friday’s game will pit Lucas Giolito against 31-year-old right-hander Jon Gray (8-7, 3.96). Gray is having a solid season, but his last four starts have been rocky as he’s allowed 14 runs in 17.2 innings. He didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning in his last start as the pitiful Oakland A’s got four runs off him early. After 26 starts he may be getting low on gas.
Giolito has also been very hittable lately, having given up 13 runs in 10 innings in his two starts with the Guardians. He showed a spark in his last start, however, going 7 innings against the Angels with 0 walks and 9 K’s while allowing 4 runs. That was a weak lineup, however.
Gio started against the Rangers in Texas a month ago and allowed 4 runs in 6 innings, which is not bad in that ball park. This could be a high scoring game as both starters have been hammered lately.
Saturday’s game features Bibee against RHP Dane Dunning (10-6, 3.91). Just like Gray, Dunning’s full season numbers are good, but he’s hit the skids recently, allowing 22 earned runs in his last 24 innings over five starts.
Bibee held the Rangers to 2 runs in 6 innings in July; an impressive performance since it came in Texas. Bibee has a 2.38 ERA in his last 14 starts, which is third best in the majors over that span. His ERA at home in 11 starts is a glittering 2.14.
On Sunday Gavin Williams will face a yet-to-be-named starter, but I assume it will be lefty Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.10). Heaney pitched Sunday but only went 3.2 innings before being pulled with no runs allowed. He’s not on the injury list, however, but he’s not listed to start in this series although tonight should be his turn.
Heaney shut out the Guardians for 5.1 innings in July in a 2-0 win. Williams gave up the two runs in five innings. Since Heaney is a lefty I’m sure he’ll start if he’s available. If he can't go they can always bring a lefty up from the minors to shut us down.
The Rangers swept the first series in July 3-0. The Guardians’ starters allowed just 6 runs but the bullpen was hammered for 14. Stephan, DLS, Hentges, and Cody Morris were all hit hard.
We may be catching the Rangers at the right time with Scherzer and deGrom out, Eovaldi having pitched Thursday, and Gray and Dunning being hit hard in recent starts. If Heaney is also out so much the better.
So we might see the Guardians score some runs this weekend and it will be worth tuning in to see how the young pups do against a Rangers’ offense that is on a roll right now.
At this point they are all but mathematically eliminated so the rest of the games are meaningless other than to evaluate players for next year.
The Rangers, OTOH, are a half game behind the Astros in the West and are battling for the division. The Rangers are 82-64 overall. They are +15 at home and +3 on the road. Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom are out and the Guardians will miss their best remaining starter, Nathan Eovaldi (11-4, 2.90), who pitched Thursday.
The Rangers have won six in a row and are coming off of a four-game sweep in Toronto. They averaged nearly 8 runs per game in those six wins. Prior to this win streak they lost 12 of 16 but it seems they have righted the ship.
The Rangers win mainly with bats as they rank 3rd in the majors in runs per game, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. They are 2nd in home runs per game at home but just 23rd on the road, so their home park helps their offense considerably. They still average 5.2 runs per game on the road.
The Rangers have an All-World infield. SS Cory Seager is hitting .340/1.055 with 30 homers and 89 RBI’s. 2B Marcus Semien is hitting .278/.816, 3B Josh Jung is at .274/.813, and 1B Nathaniel Lowe is hitting .277.811. C Mitch Garner is hitting .284/.926. The Rangers had a ton of All-Stars this year and their batting order is about as good as it gets. Jung is on the IL at the moment, however, and Garner had to leave last night’s game with a foot injury.
The most interesting part of this series will be to see how our rookie starters Bibee and Williams do against the highest scoring lineup in the A.L. Both of them held the Rangers to 2 runs in Texas two months ago. Now that the Rangers have seen them it will be interesting to see if they can have more success.
Friday’s game will pit Lucas Giolito against 31-year-old right-hander Jon Gray (8-7, 3.96). Gray is having a solid season, but his last four starts have been rocky as he’s allowed 14 runs in 17.2 innings. He didn’t make it out of the 3rd inning in his last start as the pitiful Oakland A’s got four runs off him early. After 26 starts he may be getting low on gas.
Giolito has also been very hittable lately, having given up 13 runs in 10 innings in his two starts with the Guardians. He showed a spark in his last start, however, going 7 innings against the Angels with 0 walks and 9 K’s while allowing 4 runs. That was a weak lineup, however.
Gio started against the Rangers in Texas a month ago and allowed 4 runs in 6 innings, which is not bad in that ball park. This could be a high scoring game as both starters have been hammered lately.
Saturday’s game features Bibee against RHP Dane Dunning (10-6, 3.91). Just like Gray, Dunning’s full season numbers are good, but he’s hit the skids recently, allowing 22 earned runs in his last 24 innings over five starts.
Bibee held the Rangers to 2 runs in 6 innings in July; an impressive performance since it came in Texas. Bibee has a 2.38 ERA in his last 14 starts, which is third best in the majors over that span. His ERA at home in 11 starts is a glittering 2.14.
On Sunday Gavin Williams will face a yet-to-be-named starter, but I assume it will be lefty Andrew Heaney (10-6, 4.10). Heaney pitched Sunday but only went 3.2 innings before being pulled with no runs allowed. He’s not on the injury list, however, but he’s not listed to start in this series although tonight should be his turn.
Heaney shut out the Guardians for 5.1 innings in July in a 2-0 win. Williams gave up the two runs in five innings. Since Heaney is a lefty I’m sure he’ll start if he’s available. If he can't go they can always bring a lefty up from the minors to shut us down.
The Rangers swept the first series in July 3-0. The Guardians’ starters allowed just 6 runs but the bullpen was hammered for 14. Stephan, DLS, Hentges, and Cody Morris were all hit hard.
We may be catching the Rangers at the right time with Scherzer and deGrom out, Eovaldi having pitched Thursday, and Gray and Dunning being hit hard in recent starts. If Heaney is also out so much the better.
So we might see the Guardians score some runs this weekend and it will be worth tuning in to see how the young pups do against a Rangers’ offense that is on a roll right now.
