Pittsburgh looks for series sweep over Rangers
Texas Rangers (16-17, third in the AL West) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (17-15, fourth in the AL Central)
Pittsburgh; Wednesday, 12 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Shelby Miller (1-2, 7.99 ERA, 1.94 WHIP, 13 strikeouts) Pirates: Nick Kingham (1-0, 6.40 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 13 strikeouts)
LINE: Pirates favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Pittsburgh will sweep the series over Texas with a win.
The Pirates are 9-8 on their home turf. Pittsburgh has a team on-base percentage of .291, last in the league. Melky Cabrera leads the lineup with a mark of .364.
The Rangers are 4-10 on the road. Texas has slugged .456, good for third in the American League. Joey Gallo leads the club with a .660 slugging percentage, including 16 extra-base hits and 11 home runs. The Pirates won the last meeting 7-5. Jameson Taillon earned his second victory and Starling Marte went 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI for Pittsburgh. Shelby Miller took his second loss for Texas.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Bell leads the Pirates with 20 extra base hits and is batting .287. Bryan Reynolds is 9-for-25 with four doubles, a home run and four RBIs over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.
Shin-Soo Choo leads the Rangers with 17 extra base hits and has 14 RBIs. Nomar Mazara is 13-for-47 with two doubles, four home runs and eight RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.
LAST 10 GAMES: Pirates: 4-6, .236 batting average, 5.42 ERA, outscored by 26 runs
Rangers: 4-6, .255 batting average, 4.26 ERA, outscored opponents by 19 runs
Pirates Injuries: Jameson Taillon: 10-day IL (right elbow flexor strain), Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Keone Kela: day-to-day (shoulder), Nick Burdi: 10-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: 10-day IL (thumb), Corey Dickerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 10-day IL (finger), Jose Osuna: 10-day IL (neck), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Jacob Stallings: 10-day IL (neck).
Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 10-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Ronald Guzman: 10-day IL (hamstring).
