The Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals are both at the bottom of their respective divisions, but the Rangers haven’t been playing like a last-place team lately.
Texas looks to win a season-high five straight games when it opens a three-game series at Kansas City on Friday night.
The Rangers (46-56) capped a four-game sweep over Seattle with a 7-6 victory on Wednesday. Ramon Vazquez hit a go-ahead, two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning off All-Star closer J.J. Putz, who had converted a majors-best 31 straight save chances.
The Rangers own the third-worst record in the AL, and are 13 games out of first in the AL West, but have won eight of their last 12. They have not won five in a row since Aug. 9-13 of last season.
Young is batting .472 (17-for-36) with five doubles in his last nine games, and is hitting .395 (30-for-76) with two home runs, five doubles and eight RBIs in 16 games against Kansas City since 2005.
The Rangers and Royals split their six games last season, but Texas has won 10 of its last 14 games at Kauffman Stadium.
Jamey Wright (3-2, 4.15 ERA) looks to keep the Rangers’ winning streak intact when he takes the hill Friday.
Wright had control problems the last time he took the mound, as gave up three runs, one hit, six walks and hit a batter in just 3 1-3 innings of an 8-5 win over Cleveland on Saturday. The right-hander had gone 3-1 with a 2.28 ERA in his previous four starts.
Wright, who pitched for the Royals in 2003, hasn’t faced them since 2001. He is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA in three career starts against Kansas City.
The Royals (44-57) defeated the New York Yankees 7-0 on Thursday, snapping a three-game losing streak. Kansas City has the second-worst record in the league, and is 16 games back in the AL Central.
Rookie Alex Gordon finished a single shy of the cycle, and is 11-for-28 (.393) with four doubles and six RBIs in his last seven home games.
Brian Bannister (6-6, 3.68) seeks to build off one of his better starts of the season for Kansas City.
After allowing eight runs in 13 innings in losing his previous two outings, Bannister gave up one run and four hits in seven innings of a 5-2 win over Detroit on Sunday.
The right-hander is 6-3 with a 3.19 ERA in nine starts since June 1, going 3-1 with a 3.08 ERA in his four home starts in that span.
This will be his first career start against the Rangers.
For Pizza I’ll back the Royals/Bannister with -128 Money
Good Luck,
Tommy Mac
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