The Texas Rangers and New York Yankees play the middle game of a three-game set Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium
Texas Rangers at New York Yankees
Texas is looking to avoid a season-high four game losing streak after falling 12-4 in the series opener at Yankee Stadium. “We just got outplayed tonight,” said Rangers Michael Young. “We’ll come out tomorrow and play hard, make some adjustments and play our style of baseball.” The Rangers are 7-6 in June and have won 11 of their last 17 contests. In fact, the club is a remarkable 28-12 during this calendar month the last two years, which is the second-best mark in the Majors over that period. Texas will try to bounce back at a venue it has dropped seven of its last eight regular-season games in. Texas is 23-22 versus right-handed starters this year.
Rangers starting pitcher Derek Holland is 5-1 with a 4.41 ERA in 13 starts this season and has a two-game winning streak. The left-hander received a no-decision in his last effort, giving up four runs and eight hits over 7 1/3 innings at Minnesota. Tonight will be Holland’s fourth-straight outing away from home, tallying a 3-1 mark and 3.02 ERA in seven road starts this season. He will be seeking his first career win versus the Yankees, entering with an 0-3 record and 8.61 ERA in five outings (four starts), allowing them to hit .333 against him.
New York evened up its 10-game homestand mark to 4-4 after last night’s win and will play 20 of its next 30 games away from Yankee Stadium after Thursday’s contest. The Yankees will be played without shortstop Derek Jeter, who was placed on the disabled list for the first time since 2003. His replacement, Eduardo Nunez, went 2 for 4 with an RBI Wednesday. “I think he’s played pretty well for us,” said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. I think he’s hit the ball a lot harder than what the offensive numbers indicate.” Among others that are picking up the slack of missing Jeter is designated-hitter Jorge Posada, hitting safely in a season-high eight straight games, going 15-for-30 with five multi-hit games over the stretch. New York is 12-7 against left-handed starters this season.
Yankees starting pitcher Ivan Nova will be making his 14th appearance (13th start) of the season, including his third career start and second this season versus the Rangers. He came away with a 4-1 road win in Texas on May 6, giving up just a single run (none earned) and two hits over 7 1/3 innings. In his last outing against Cleveland, the Dominican Republic native cruised to his first victory since May 17, limiting the Indians to two runs on four hits over seven frames. Nova has been average at best during his outings at Yankee Stadium, posting a 3-2 mark and 4.54 ERA.
Bettors will be interested in backing the Yankees due to their 7-1 record versus the American League West, while the Rangers are 0-4 in their last four games against right-handed starters
