Things have not been going well as of late for the Texas Rangers. Texas has lost five of its last six and now sits at a season-low four games under .500.
Looking to break out of their rough stretch, the Rangers will be back in action on Saturday night at Globe Life Field for Game Two of their three-game set against the Chicago Cubs.
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First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. CST. Fans not heading out to the stadium can catch all of the action on Rangers Sports Network and on 105.3 The Fan on the radio side of things.
Jack Leiter will take the mound for the Rangers, entering play at 1-3 with a 5.45 ERA in seven starts this season.
Leiter will look to bounce back from a tough start against the Detroit Tigers last week, in which he allowed five earned runs in 6 2/3 innings pitched.
Any bounce-back outing from Leiter will come against a tough Cubs lineup that has now propelled their team to ten straight victories.
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Following command issues from Kumar Rocker on Friday night, the Rangers will look for Leiter to pound the strike zone and get quick outs as they certainly are due for a quality start.
Cubs third baseman Alex Bregman is the only Chicago hitter to face Leiter more than three times and has yet to record a hit against him.
Catcher Carson Kelly and third baseman Nicky Lopez have each faced Leiter twice and have both failed to record a hit in two at-bats.
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Offensively, the struggling Rangers hitters will have their work cut out for them as they face Cubs star pitcher Edward Cabrera.
Cabrera enters play with a 3-0 record and a 3.27 ERA in seven starts this season. In his last start against the Cincinnati Reds, Cabrera went six innings, allowing just three runs.
Right fielder Brandon Nimmo has faced Cabrera 16 times and is hitting .375 with a 1.003 OPS with one RBI.
Joc Pederson also has a pair of hits in four at-bats against Cabrera. Andrew McCutchen is the only other Ranger to have seen Cabrera, doing so just once.
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The Rangers will need to generate more traffic on the bases on Saturday as they managed just two hits in Friday night’s loss.
Texas continues to hope that each day will finally be the day they break out of their offensive rut. Once again, they have an opportunity to make today the day.
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