The surging Texas Rangers square off against the slumping Kansas City Royals in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday in Arlington, Texas.
The Royals will send right hander Seth Lugo (3-5, 3.18 ERA) to the mound while Texas will counter with rookie right-hander Jack Leiter (4-3, 3.88 ERA).
Texas continues its homestand carrying a four-game winning streak after a nail-biting 2-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. All three of the wins in the series sweep were by two runs or less.
The Rangers are back to even on the season at 36-36. Texas has won seven of its past eight games and captured three consecutive series to move into third place in the American League West standings.
Texas’ bullpen has been a key to its surge over the past week and a half. The group yielded a 1.88 ERA in league-high 38 1/3 innings in the past seven games, which included two designated bullpen games that the Rangers won.
One of the standouts in Texas’ bullpen has been Jacob Latz, who has a 2.70 ERA over his last eight appearances that covered 13 1/3 innings. The busy left-hander delivered 115 pitches last week, including 30 in the final two innings of Texas’ 5-4 win over Chicago in 11 innings on Saturday.
“What a great job by Latz,” Texas manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s been pitching well. He’s made pitches the whole time, kept his composure. It’s been a really good effort by him and really the whole staff. This bullpen has gotten used a lot.”
Leiter goes to the mound for his 12th start this season on the heels of allowing four runs on five hits and four walks over four innings Wednesday in a game Texas lost 6-2 at Minnesota. He struck out three batters in the defeat and lost for the first time since May 8 in Boston, which snapped a six-start unbeaten streak.
Leiter has never faced Kansas City in his 20-game career.
The Royals are dragging a six-game losing streak into the contest. They went 0-6 on a homestand that concluded with a 3-2 loss to the Athletics on Sunday afternoon.
Kansas City scored just 11 runs over the six-game swoon, which has dropped the Royals to 34-38 and into fourth place in the AL Central.
“Yeah, it wasn’t good,” said Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. “It was bad and you’ve got to flush it. Got an off day (Monday) and that’s all you can do right now. We have to figure something out. We have to change something. So the time is now.”
Kansas City has dropped eight of its past nine.
“I think the boys need to start playing some ball,” said Royals first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. “That’s probably the trick, is get back to playing some ball again and focus on today.”
Lugo has not earned a win since May 1 on the road against the Tampa Bay Rays, so his last five starts have left him with three no-decisions and two losses. He does not have a decision to show for either of his last two appearances — despite allowing a combined two runs on seven hits over 10 2/3 innings while striking out seven and walking five. The Royals wound dropping both of those games.
Lugo has just one lifetime appearance against the Rangers. He struck out two while pitching one inning in relief in 2022 as a member of the New York Mets.
–Field Level Media
