Rangers at White Sox
The Texas Rangers will try to finish a long road trip on a positive note when they take on the host Chicago White Sox in the rubber match of a three-game series Sunday afternoon. After blowing a ninth-inning lead in an 8-7 loss in the opener, the Rangers bounced back with three home runs in a 10-4 triumph over the White Sox on Saturday.
Elvis Andrus, Mike Napoli and Rougned Odor each went deep and Nomar Mazara drove in three runs as Texas improved to 4-5 on the 10-game swing and got back within a game of .500. Chicago, which had won six in a row over the Rangers at home prior to Saturday, dropped to 3-6 on its homestand as it manged just four hits against two Texas pitchers. Jose Abreu's two-run homer was one of those four hits and he has gone deep in each of the first two games of the series, all after slugging his first 13 long balls of the season on the road. White Sox right fielder Avisail Garcia (knee) was out of the lineup for the third straight game but told reporters he hopes to play Sunday.
TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), CSN Chicago
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Tyson Ross (1-1, 6.14 ERA) vs. White Sox LH Jose Quintana (4-8, 4.37)
Ross will be making his fourth start since returning from thoracic outlet surgery and hopes to duplicate his most recent effort. He gave up a run and two hits in six innings at Cleveland his last time out, striking out five in the no-decision. The 30-year-old, who is 8-3 with a 1.85 ERA in his career in July, has won all three of his games (two starts) against the White Sox in his career while allowing just three earned runs in 16 1/3 innings.
Quintana fell to 2-8 with a 5.30 ERA after a rocky outing at Cleveland on June 11, but has rebounded to go 2-0 with a 0.90 mark over a three-start turnaround. His last two opponents - Minnesota and the New York Yankees - have failed to score while amassing seven hits in 13 innings against the Colombia native. Quintana blanked the Rangers over seven frames in their one meeting last year but may need to be careful with outfielder Shin-Soo Choo, who is 6-for-12 with five doubles against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers manager Jeff Banister indicated Saturday the team would go with a closer-by-committee after RHP Matt Bush blew his third save in a span of five appearances in Friday's loss.
2. White Sox starting pitchers have a 5.36 ERA over the past 38 games.
3. Texas returns home Monday for six games before the All-Star break, while Chicago will play six in a row on the road prior to the intermission.