The Texas Rangers started off after the break with a dreadful series against the Houston Astros, losing two out of three games, and the third game, the game after a benches clearing incident, the Texas Rangers were the deadest I can remember seeing them all season long. The bats didn’t show up, the pitching didn’t show up and the fielding didn’t show up. The team hit a new low yesterday.
Now the team moves on to Colorado, considered perhaps the most hitter-friendly park in the Majors. It’s a great opportunity for Rangers fans to see their team play on the road. Hipmunk.com offers Denver flights for any Rangers fans looking to see a visiting ball park. Denver hotels can be booked as well, making Hipmunk any baseball fan’s No. 1 travel resource. Colorado is a beautiful place to watch a game, and hopefully they will be good games to watch.
Tonight Nick Martinez ( 5-5, 3.43 ERA) returns to the mound against Colorado starter Chris Rusin. Rusin has not won a game since June 21, and Martinez was sent down on July second, so both pitchers have something to prove. The Rangers really need to get the bats going in support of Martinez, as a 2-0 lead for the other team sometimes feels insurmountable.
Tomorrow it will be the second start for Matt Harrison since returning, and he will face off against the Rockies Kyle Kendrick, who seeks his first win since June 23rd. Harrison has his first start back under his belt and we can all hope that he will put up a good performance against the Rockies Tuesday night.
Wednesday pits the Rangers Martin Perez against a pitcher that the Rockies have not decided yet, and I look for Perez to have a good outing for his second one back from Tommy John surgery. He gave up nine hits and 3 runs in his first start in 14 months, and I feel like his stuff was there, he just needs to get his control back.
All in all, the Texas Rangers really need to get back on track this series. With bats like Mitch Moreland, Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton, Prince Fielder and the speed of guys like Delino Deshields and Leonys Martin, this team should be scoring some runs. They better start soon, because they can’t afford to fall any farther behind the Angels and Astros.
