Houston @ Texas preview
Choctaw Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jun 20, 2010 ) Texas 5, Houston 4
As Josh Hamilton goes, so go the Texas Rangers. And lately that has meant surging to great heights.
Hamilton and the Rangers will be looking to continue their collective tear when they open up a three-game interleague series against the in-state rival Houston Astros on Friday.
Texas has won 11 straight games to move four games in front of the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West and just one game behind the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.
Hamilton has been the hottest player in the game in the month of June, batting .467 with eight homers and 26 RBIs. He has picked it up even more during the winning streak, batting .545 with four homers.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick missed Wednesday’s game with tightness in his hamstring but returned to the lineup with a 3-for-4 night in Thursday’s 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Rangers trailed 5-1 at one point in Thursday’s game but battled back and pushed the winning run across in the bottom of the ninth on Vladimir Guerrero’s RBI single to left.
Three of Texas’ wins during the streak came against the Astros last weekend, outscoring Houston 19-8 in a three-game sweep. Hamilton was right in the middle of that series as well with nine hits in the three games, including a 5-for-6 showing with two RBIs in Sunday’s finale.
Colby Lewis (7-4) will be looking to continue his string of strong starts when he takes the mound today for the Rangers. The former Japanese Central League star was exceeded expectations so far this season, becoming a leader on the Texas staff with a 3.07 ERA and 90 strikeouts in 93 1/3 total innings.
He has been even better lately, winning each of his last three starts while allowing a total of four runs and striking out 24 in 24 innings. Lewis pitched the first complete game of his major league career last Saturday, surrendering one run on two hits to earn a win at Houston.
Lewis toyed with the Astros offense in that outing, striking out nine without a walk and allowing the lone run to score on a wild pitch. He recorded 12 groundouts and threw 76 of 102 pitches for strikes in the outing.
Houston will counter with right-hander Brian Moehler, who was on the losing end of Lewis’ complete game Saturday. Moehler turned in a nice outing of his own, allowing two runs on one hit in six innings. He surrendered a two-run homer to rookie Justin Smoak in the second inning to suffer the loss.
Moehler has made five starts since being moved into the rotation on May 29 and has yet to record an out in the seventh inning. The 38-year-old was awful in his first four outings, posting an 8.20 ERA while allowing a .368 batting average against and a 1.054 opponents OPS.