Tonight at 8:05 p.m. ET, it will be a battle of Texas as two American League West rivals do battle when the Houston Astros (51-106) visit the Texas Rangers (85-71) for Game 2 of their three-game set at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The game can be live streamed here. Astros fans can hear the action at KBME 790 while Rangers fans can do the same at 103.3 ESPN.
The Rangers enter the contest coming off of a 12-0 victory in the series opener on Monday, and are in the thick of things in the race for the AL Wild Card, so a meeting with the MLB's worst team could be just what Texas needs to maintain its postseason aspirations. Texas enters Tuesday just one game behind the Cleveland Indians (86-70) for the second Wild Card spot in the AL.
Houston sends Brad Peacock (5-5, 5.24 ERA) to the hill while Yu Darvish (13-9, 2.81) mans the mound for the Rangers.
Darvish is 3-1 with a 2.73 ERA against Houston through four starts this year, and Texas is looking for all the wins it can get as the team stays in the hunt for October baseball. Darvish leads the Majors with 260 strikeouts on the season and his .193 opponents' average-against is first in the AL.
Darvish has been very impressive while facing Houston this season, coming within one out of a perfect game against them in his first start of the season and holding them to one hit while striking out 15 on Aug. 12.
While this may have the makings of an important start, Darvish insists he's looking at it as if the calendar doesn't read late September.
"Like I have always been saying, a game in April is no different than in September," Darvish told MLB.com. "My job is to do the best I can and pitch the best I can."
Peacock, meanwhile, has gone 2-0 in his last three starts and will be making his final start of the season after earning a no-decision in his last outing against the Cincinnati Reds while allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits through 5.2 innings. Peacock's last outing against the Rangers also netted him a no-decision, but he held the team to just one run on three hits through six innings.
Astros manager Bo Porter knows his team will enjoy the opportunity to try and play spoiler but also knows how dangerous of a pitcher they're facing in Darvish.
"We definitely relish the challenge," Porter told MLB.com. "He has great stuff. As time wore on, he's had some good games against us. I think our guys have made good adjustments and we've actually fared a little bit better, but it's going to be a challenge."
Texas slipped out of a Wild Card spot with a terrible September swoon that saw the team drop 15 of its last 21 games, but is looking to get back on top at the expense of Houston. The Rangers announced that they aren't sure if they'll bring back outfielder Nelson Cruz if the team ends up making the playoffs. Cruz appeared in 108 games and was hitting .269 with 27 homers and 76 RBIs before he was suspended for the rest of the regular season due to his connection with the Biogenesis scandal and performance enhancing drugs.
While the first season in the American League has been a lost one for Houston, the team can bank on a brighter future as it has notched the top pick in the 2014 First-Year Player Draft for the third year in a row. Still, it's been another dismal season for the Astros as the team has lost a season-high 10 games in a row and looks to be on pace to break its club record of 107 losses set last year.
Still, there's some hope for Houston as second baseman Jose Altuve (.283 average with 171 hits, 30 doubles and 52 RBIs through 147 games) has the fourth highest September average in the AL with a .327 mark.
Texas plans to use Lance Berkman in a pinch-hitting role to close out the season as he suffers from knee and hip injuries.
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is tops in the American League in hits with 192 on the year.
Texas looks to keep rolling towards what the team hopes will be a Wild Card berth while Houston is looking to play spoiler and avoid tying its franchise record for losses when these two clash tonight.
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