Rays at Rangers
The two hottest teams in the American League will duke it out this weekend when East leader Tampa Bay brings its five-game winning streak into Texas for a three-game set against the Rangers, who own baseball’s best record at 15-4. The Rays are coming off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels, capped by a 4-3 walk-off win Thursday. Texas had a day off after taking two of three from the New York Yankees.
Winners of the last two American League pennants, the Rangers made a splash in the offseason by acquiring Japanese pitching star Yu Darvish and moving former closer Neftali Feliz into the starting rotation. Tampa Bay, the underfunded contender in a loaded East, brought back former 1B Carlos Peña, who spent a lackluster 2011 campaign with the Chicago Cubs. The two teams last met in the American League Division Series last fall, with Texas coming back from a Game 1 home loss to advance in four.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, SUN Sports (Tampa Bay), KTXA (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rays RH James Shields (3-0, 2.76 ERA) vs. Rangers LH Matt Harrison (3-0, 1.66 ERA)
After being roughed up by New York in his opening start, Shields has settled into a groove, going at least eight innings in each of his last three starts while allowing a total of three runs in 24 1/3 frames. He has won all three of those games, handcuffing two solid offenses on the road at Detroit and Boston. Shields is 5-2 with a 3.05 ERA in eight lifetime starts against Texas.
Harrison has been arguably the strongest link in an excellent Rangers rotation thus far, giving up just four runs in 21 2/3 innings. He has yet to allow a run at home, having thrown six shutout innings in his 2012 debut against Chicago on Apr. 8 (4 H, 2 BB, 3 K). Harrison won his lone regular-season start against the Rays in 2008 (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R) and earned another victory in last year’s playoffs.
WALK-OFFS:
1. Texas SS Elvis Andrus is 7-for-12 (.583) against Shields with two doubles and two triples. The rest of the Rangers are a combined 30-for-147 (.204).
2. Tampa Bay pitchers have not surrendered a home run with men on base since April 17, a span of 78 innings. The Rays went 55 innings between homers allowed before giving one up Wednesday.
3. Current Rays hitters are a combined 10-for-34 (.294) against Harrison. 3B Evan Longoria and newly acquired 1B Brandon Allen are both 3-for-3.