Texas cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton has a whopping .351 batting average.
Cliff Lee will attempt to capture his first game in a Texas Rangers uniform Saturday night when he takes the hill against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park in the third game of a four-game series.
Lee made his Texas debut last Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles and tossed a complete game using just 95 pitches. Unfortunately, that was the only good news during the outing that saw the Rangers suffer a 6-1 setback as hefty 380 home favorites.
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The 31-year-old Arkansas native was tagged for six runs on nine hits (three homers) while fanning two and not walking a batter. The loss lowered Lee's overall ledger this season to 8-4 and raised his ERA to 2.64. Opponents are batting just .242 against Lee.
Prior to that inauspicious Rangers debut, Lee was on a personal four-game winning streak that saw him allow one run or less on three occasions. He had also fanned 29 batters in his last 35 innings.
Last Saturday's complete game was Lee's fifth of the campaign and fourth in his last five assignments. The veteran southpaw is 2-4 in his career against the Red Sox.
Prior to Friday's contest, the Rangers were 20-19 on the road, 36-25 against right-handed starting pitchers, 5-4 in extra innings and 16-13 in one-run games. The Rangers also owned a plus-79 run differential after outscoring the opposition 460-381.
Texas used a six-run first inning to register a 7-2 victory as a 105 road underdog in Thursday's opening game of this four-game set. The combined nine runs barely dipped ‘under' the 9 ½-run closing total, leaving the ‘under' 11-3 in the last 14 series meetings and 6-2 in the last eight matches at Fenway Park.
The Rangers continued to receive heavy contributions from the middle of their lineup during Thursday's win. Vlad Guerrero went 3-for-5 with an RBI to raise his batting average to .323 out of the third spot in the lineup. Cleanup hitter Josh Hamilton went 3-for-4 with an RBI to raise his average to .351.
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Texas and Boston met in a three-game series back in April, with the Red Sox capturing the first two games, 7-6 and 8-7The Rangers salvaged the finale, 3-0.
The Red Sox will send John Lackey (9-5, 4.78 ERA) to the mound in Saturday's contest. The 6-foot-6 right-hander is also coming off a sub-par performance last Saturday at Toronto. Lackey allowed seven runs on eight hits (one homer) in just 4 2/3 innings spanning 105 pitches en route to a 9-5 setback as a 105 road underdog.
The loss lowered Boston's record to 9-9 in Lackey's first 18 starts this season.
The veteran right-hander has pitched much better at home than on the road, evidenced by his 7-2 record with a 4.45 ERA in 10 home starts, compared to 2-3 with a 5.19 ERA on the road. The ‘over' is also 7-3 in his 10 starts at Fenway. Lackey is 8-4 when starting under the lights, compared to 1-5 during the day.
This will be Lackey's first start against Texas this season.
Prior to Friday's contest, the Red Sox were 29-18 at home, 16-12 versus southpaw starters, 14-15 in one-run games and 2-7 in extra innings. Boston has scored a league-high 483 runs and allowed 415 for a plus-68 run differential. The ‘over' was 45-39-5 in the club's first 99 outings.
Bill Hohn will be calling balls and strikes in Saturday's contest. The ‘under' is 11-6 in Hohn's 17 assignments behind the dish, with an average of 8.5 runs begin scored. There is an average of 7.1 walks and 11.1 strikeouts when Hohn dons the mask.