Mets at Rangers
The Texas Rangers needed a win after spending the weekend getting smoked by the major league-best Houston Astros, and the New York Mets were happy to oblige. The Rangers will try to take advantage of the slumping Mets again and earn a sweep of the two-game interleague set when they host the finale on Wednesday.
Texas entered the series with losses in four straight and 10 of its last 12 but had little trouble solving New York ace Jacob deGrom while bashing its way to a 10-8 win in Tuesday's opener. The Rangers got at least one hit from each member of the starting lineup as part of the 16-hit attack, including four from right fielder Nomar Mazara, who went 1-for-9 with four strikeouts over the weekend against the Astros. Trying to slow that offense on Friday will be right-hander Zack Wheeler while the Mets tackle Texas ace Yu Darvish. New York could use a little length out of Wheeler after watching deGrom get bounced after four innings Tuesday as the Mets' staff allowed double-digit runs for the third time in the last four contests.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), FSN Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Zack Wheeler (3-3, 3.72 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Yu Darvish (5-4, 3.13)
Wheeler suffered his first loss in over a month when he was reached for two runs on 10 hits and a walk in 6 1/3 innings against Milwaukee on Thursday. The 27-year-old is coming back from Tommy John surgery but seems to have passed all restrictions on pitch counts after tossing over 100 pitches against the Brewers. Wheeler is 1-0 with a 3.22 ERA in four starts on the road this season, including a win at the Los Angeles Angels in his lone interleague start.
Darvish is trying to snap a two-start losing streak and lasted only five innings against Houston on Friday, yielding three runs on seven hits and a walk. The Japan native struck out eight in those five frames and owns 80 in 74 2/3 innings. Darvish did not factor in the decision in his lone previous start against the Mets and is 8-2 with a 2.19 ERA in 14 career interleague outings.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Rangers placed 1B Mike Napoli (lower back) on the 10-day disabled list and activated LHP Dario Alvarez.
2. New York SS Asdrubal Cabrera recorded three hits on Tuesday after going 0-for-12 in his previous three games.
3. Texas traded RHP Sam Dyson to the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday after designating him for assignment last week.