The Texas Rangers will look to clinch a series win against the Tampa Bay Rays in a battle of first-place teams on Wednesday night.
The Texas Rangers are in the midst of a season-defining stretch of baseball as we sit just five days away from the MLB Trade Deadline.
On Tuesday night, Texas continued to rise to the moment as they picked up a huge 4-1 win on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays, who have the best home record in baseball.
Wednesday night will mark an opportunity for the Rangers to clinch a series victory as they take on Tampa Bay in game two of a three-game set.
First pitch is another early one for those in the Metroplex as the action from Tropicana Field will get underway at 5:40 p.m.
Rangers Sports Network will have all the action as they usually do, and on the radio side of things, you can catch the game on 105.3 The Fan.
MacKenzie Gore will take the mound for Texas, looking to go deeper into the game than he did in his last start against the Seattle Mariners at Globe Life Field on Friday night, where he went just five innings, allowing three runs.
It hasn’t been quite the debut season for the Rangers that Gore has wanted as he enters play at 6-8 with a 4.82 ERA, a 1.31 WHIP, and 127 strikeouts in 115.2 innings.
Despite his season stats not jumping off the page, Gore has taken the ball 22 times already this season, some of which on short rest, and has given the Rangers a chance to win the majority of his starts.
On Wednesday night, Gore will look to do the same as he starts against the Rays at Tropicana Field for the first time in his career.
Rangers hitters will have the unique but certainly more common trend of facing an opener as Tampa Bay will start Dallas native Casey Legumina for the fourth time this season.
Legumina comes into play with a 2-2 record, a 3.95 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and 31 strikeouts in 43.1 innings this season.
After Legumina, the Rays will have left-hander Ian Seymour as their bulk pitcher. In 73.2 innings this season, Seymour is 6-3 with a 4.46 ERA.
Coming into play on Wednesday, the Rangers hold a two-game lead in the American League West. With a win, Texas would improve to a season-high four games above .500 at 56-52 and by the end of the night could see their division lead swell to three games.
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