Pittsburgh @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 14, 2007 ) Texas 6, Pittsburgh 0
The Texas Rangers are coming off their best single-season road trip in franchise history, including three-game sweeps of the Houston Astros and Florida Marlins.
A winner of eight in a row, Texas will gladly welcome the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates into Rangers Ballpark for a three-game series as they try to extend their lead in the AL West.
Texas will send right-hander Tommy Hunter to the mound for Tuesday's series opener, while Pittsburgh will counter with right-hander Ross Ohlendorf.
Hunter left his last start in the third inning with a strained right hip flexor. He has seemingly recovered and didn’t require a stint on the disabled list.
After going into spring training with a chance to win a spot in the rotation, Hunter started the season on the disabled list and made six starts at Triple-A Oklahoma City before getting called up to the big leagues.
Hunter, who has never faced the Pirates in his young career, has pitched well at home so far this season. He is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA, including a complete-game effort against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 5.
Offensively, the Rangers have scored at least five runs in their past five games. On Sunday, Texas rallied from a 4-1 deficit against Houston, eventually recording a 5-4 triumph on a pair of RBI singles from Josh Hamilton. Julio Borbon, Justin Smoak and Max Ramirez all had run-scoring hits as well.
The Pirates, meanwhile, hope Ohlendorf can silence the Rangers’ bats and pick up his first victory of the season.
Ohlendorf grew up in Austin, Texas, so it will be somewhat of a homecoming for him. However, he has struggled in his first eight starts this season and has never faced the Rangers.
In his last outing against the Chicago White Sox, Ohlendorf went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Before that, Ohlendorf gave up six runs on 10 hits over six innings in a loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Pitching aside, nothing has gone right for the Pirates this season - although they were able to snap a 12-game losing streak on Saturday. Then, they won on Sunday to put together a two-game winning streak for the first time since May 31-June 1.
Regardless, Pittsburgh only has four wins in June.
In addition, the Pirates were swept by the Rangers in their only visit to Texas back in 2004.