Its never fun playing against the defending World Champions on the first game of a new season. The Texas Rangers figured that out the hard way as the Houston Astros demonstrated why they won the World Series last season.
The Astros won the first season series against the Rangers 3 games to one. The offense of the Rangers is a major concern early in the season as players struggled to hit the ball. Rougned Odor had just one hit and one RBI out of 12 plate appearances. Joey Gallo was struck-out a team high eight times in this series against the Astros.
Things weren’t all bad for the Texas Rangers. Elvis Andrus played well for the Rangers during this series. The Venezuela native went to bat 13 times. He finished the series with the Astros having seven hits, one home run, two RBI’s and scoring four runs. His batting average to begin the 2018 season is .538 and his OBP is .625. Other players need to step up and hit the ball for the Rangers.
The pitching was decent at times during this series against Houston. Saturday and Sunday, the Astros were lighting up the Rangers for nine and eight runs in those two games. The only win the Rangers had against the Astros came on Friday night. Doug Sister pitched a very solid five innings against the Astros. He recorded three total strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 1.80. Which is encouraging for the Rangers pitching staff going forward.
Matt Moore was probably the biggest disappointment for the Rangers pitching as his ERA on the season is a 9.00 off on four innings pitched. Also, outfielder Delino DeShields is going to have surgery on his left hand to repair a broken bone. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks.
The Rangers are in Oakland California to face the A’s in a four game set. The A’s struggled against the revamped Los Angeles Angels losing three straight games after winning their home opener. Tonight, Bartolo Colon will take the mound for the Rangers and the A’s will have Andrew Triggs pitching against the Rangers. The Rangers are on the road until April 6th when they’ll host the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Astros won the first season series against the Rangers 3 games to one. The offense of the Rangers is a major concern early in the season as players struggled to hit the ball. Rougned Odor had just one hit and one RBI out of 12 plate appearances. Joey Gallo was struck-out a team high eight times in this series against the Astros.
Things weren’t all bad for the Texas Rangers. Elvis Andrus played well for the Rangers during this series. The Venezuela native went to bat 13 times. He finished the series with the Astros having seven hits, one home run, two RBI’s and scoring four runs. His batting average to begin the 2018 season is .538 and his OBP is .625. Other players need to step up and hit the ball for the Rangers.
The pitching was decent at times during this series against Houston. Saturday and Sunday, the Astros were lighting up the Rangers for nine and eight runs in those two games. The only win the Rangers had against the Astros came on Friday night. Doug Sister pitched a very solid five innings against the Astros. He recorded three total strikeouts and finished with an ERA of 1.80. Which is encouraging for the Rangers pitching staff going forward.
Matt Moore was probably the biggest disappointment for the Rangers pitching as his ERA on the season is a 9.00 off on four innings pitched. Also, outfielder Delino DeShields is going to have surgery on his left hand to repair a broken bone. He’s expected to miss four to six weeks.
The Rangers are in Oakland California to face the A’s in a four game set. The A’s struggled against the revamped Los Angeles Angels losing three straight games after winning their home opener. Tonight, Bartolo Colon will take the mound for the Rangers and the A’s will have Andrew Triggs pitching against the Rangers. The Rangers are on the road until April 6th when they’ll host the Toronto Blue Jays.
