Seattle @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 7, 2010 ) Seattle 4, Texas 2
The Texas Rangers might not want to look, but the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim just unseated them atop the AL West standings.
Now, one day after falling to Seattle Mariners left-hander Cliff Lee, the Rangers have to face the Mariners' "other" ace, Felix Hernandez. Texas will counter with right-hander Colby Lewis on Tuesday.
The Rangers have enjoyed leading the division the majority of the season, but have gone 4-6 over their past 10 games, while the Angels have posted a stellar 9-1 mark.
Regardless, Texas believes Lewis will give it a chance against Seattle. In his last start against the Chicago White Sox, Lewis allowed four runs and seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in a losing effort.
In his two starts against the Mariners this year, Lewis is 1-0 with a 0.56 ERA. Over the 16 innings he has pitched against Seattle, Lewis has allowed only one run and has 13 strikeouts.
That, more than his 3.95 career ERA against the Mariners, tells the story. Lewis returned to the majors this season after spending two years playing in Japan.
Offensively, the Rangers couldn’t get anything going against Lee on Monday night. They were held scoreless through eight innings before plating a pair of runs in the ninth. Texas finished the game 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and didn’t draw a walk for the fifth time this season.
The Mariners, meanwhile, are looking to Hernandez for another dominant outing.
On Thursday against the Minnesota Twins, Hernandez went eight innings, allowing one run on five hits with nine strikeouts for the victory. Ironically, Hernandez ended his night with four strikeouts in his final inning. Minnesota star Joe Mauer struck out, but reached first on a wild pitch.
Offensively, Seattle got an unexpected boost from Michael Saunders’ three-run home run on Monday. Saunders entered Monday’s game in a 5-for-34 slump. Mariners catcher Rob Johnson also came through, going 2-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average from .165 to .180.
Seattle also received a much-needed boost from Chone Figgins, who was demoted to the nine-hole prior to the game. Figgins had three hits from the No. 9 spot, the first time he started there since June 5, 2007 when he was with the Angels.
While Figgins expressed disappointment in the demotion, the Mariners still got their three-city, 10-game road trip off to an impressive start. They snapped a three-game losing streak and a four-game losing streak against the Rangers.