Rangers facing tough stretch against Nationals' starters (Jun 10, 2017)
WASHINGTON -- The Texas Rangers could be in for a rough two days at Nationals Park on Saturday and Sunday, even after a 5-2 win against the Washington Nationals on Friday night as Andrew Cashner allowed just one run in seven innings.
Third baseman Adrian Beltre is banged up and did not play Friday and slugger Mike Napoli is on the disabled list and not expected back anytime soon.
That leaves the active Texas hitters forced to contend with the Nationals' starting pitching staff, who have helped compensate for a weaker bullpen.
"This is how it is supposed to be, you know. We knew we had good starting pitching," Washington manager Dusty Baker said.
Veteran lefty Gio Gonzalez (5-1, 3.03) will start Saturday afternoon for the Nationals against Texas lefty Martin Perez (2-6, 4.64), who will make his first career start against the Nationals. Gonzalez went six innings in his last start, a win on Monday against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.
The Nationals are in the midst of 20 games in 20 days and the starting pitchers, including ace Max Scherzer, are going deeper into games. Scherzer is slated to pitch in the series finale Sunday and is five strikeouts shy of 2,000 for his career.
"It makes easier on me and makes it easier on the pen," Baker said of his starters going deeper. "We have to have that now during this stretch here. It is imperative that we get innings out of our starters."
Gonzalez, who will make his 13th start Saturday, has been victimized by the long ball this year. He has given up 10 home runs, which is tied with Scherzer for the team lead. Gonzalez has done so in 74 1/3 innings.
The Washington lefty has allowed four homers to current Texas batters, including three by Beltre. The Rangers slugger is 8-for-19 (.421) in his career against Gonzalez, but there is no guarantee he will be in the lineup Saturday.
Beltre injured his ankle Tuesday while running out a groundball against the New York Mets. He did not play Wednesday and the Rangers were off Thursday.
Beltre was not in the starting lineup Friday in Washington against the Nationals and did not play, and he has been limited to seven games this season. The disabled list is an option.
"That decision has not been made," manager Jeff Banister said before Friday's game.
But after the game Banister said Beltre moved better on the field before the game. The team most likely will need to decide whether or not to put him on the DL by Saturday.
The Rangers have had to juggle their defense, and Joey Gallo started at first base again Friday. It was his fifth start of the year at first.
"He sure plays like it like it is a fit," Banister said.
The Nationals will be opposed by Perez, who is 0-1 with a 7.80 ERA in his last three starts. He is 0-2 with a 4.29 ERA away from home this year and 4-16 with a 5.15 ERA in 30 road starts in his career.
Matt Wieters is 3-for-6 with an RBI and Ryan Rayburn is 2-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout lifetime against Perez.
