The Texas Rangers are back in action at Globe Life Field as they open a three-game set with the San Diego Padres.
The Texas Rangers have been in a funk lately. Texas has lost five of its last six games and hasn’t been very competitive in that stretch.
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said it’s going to take a really good performance from a starting pitcher to get out of the funk.
Luckily for Texas, they will turn to one of the best pitchers baseball has ever seen as they open a three-game set with the San Diego Padres at Globe Life Field on Friday night.
Jacob deGrom will toe the rubber for the Rangers to make his 15th start of the season and his first appearance in the Rangers' new “Tejas” City Connect uniforms.
deGrom enters play with a 5-4 record and a 3.17 ERA on the season. Only four Padres have ever faced deGrom in their careers. San Diego third baseman Manny Machado has had 20 at-bats with a lifetime batting average of .300 against the Rangers ace.
The first inning will be a point of emphasis for deGrom as Rangers starters have struggled all season long in the opening frame, but even more so of late. Texas has the second-worst first-inning run differential in the American League this season.
Fans heading out to the ballpark will want to do so early as the first 10,000 fans will receive a deGrom City Connect bobblehead.
Friday night will also mark the first game of the Rangers' annual Mexican Heritage Weekend. Mexican singer/songwriter Luis Ángel "El Flaco" will be performing a postgame concert inside Globe Life Field. Limited field passes are available on the Rangers' official website.
Those not heading out to the ballpark will be able to tune in to the game on the Rangers Sports Network and listen on 105.3 The Fan.
The struggling Rangers offense will be tasked with facing Padres right-hander Randy Vásquez, who will make his 15th start of the season. Vásquez enters play with a 6-4 record and a 3.63 ERA on the season.
On Wednesday, the Rangers got solo home runs from Wyatt Langford, Ezequiel Duran, and Justin Foscue, and in some of the early frames, were able to generate some traffic on the bases. Texas hopes they can combine both of those things on Friday night and throughout the weekend series with the Padres.
Entering play on Friday, the Rangers' 35-39 record has them three games back of first place in the American League West Division standings.
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