Red-hot Rangers look to keep rolling against Red Sox
ARLINGTON, Texas -- No team in baseball is hotter than the Texas Rangers. They own the best record in the American League and went into Thursday's off day with a 10-game West division lead.
That cushion could be tested in the near future.
The Rangers (47-26) currently are down three starting pitchers and head into a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox with a makeshift rotation.
Colby Lewis was the latest to go down. The veteran workhorse was off to a career-best 6-1 start, but he's lost for at least two months with a strained right lat muscle.
Lewis joins Yu Darvish (shoulder) and Derek Holland (shoulder) on the shelf. Darvish is about a week away from throwing in a rehab/simulated game, while Holland is out at least two weeks.
"Obviously we are cutting deep into our depth," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "It's not perfect. We're at the stage of the year in baseball where things can happen. You build yourself for these types of situations. These times are a great opportunity for somebody to step up."
Moving into the rotation this weekend are right-hander Nick Martinez (Friday) and right-hander A.J. Griffin (Saturday). Griffin (3-0, 2.94 ERA) was in the rotation earlier this season before missing six weeks with shoulder inflammation.
Martinez (1-1, 5.14) is making his second spot start, both coming in Darvish's normal slot. The Rangers do get back on a familiar track with left-hander Martin Perez (6-4, 3.57) going Sunday.
Boston will send lefty David Price (8-4, 4.24), right-hander Steven Wright (8-4, 2.01) and righty Clay Buchholz (3-7, 5.83) to the hill in order over the next three days.
Texas has given itself some breathing room by winning eight of the last nine, 10 of 12 and going a MLB-best 16-5 in June. Included in that stretch is a 16-4 run over a stretch of 20 games in 20 days that ended with Wednesday's 6-4 win over Cincinnati.
"Anytime that you put a 16-4 stretch, whether it's 20 straight or inside of some off days, it puts you in a position where we can go into every game with a lot of confidence," Banister said. "It creates energy, which creates that momentum. The confidence that allows us to go out and play relaxed."
The Rangers are off to the best start in club history and are 10-0-1 in their last 11 series overall, 11-0-1 in last 12 series at home.
Boston (40-32) has hit a rough patch during a particularly challenging part of the schedule. The Red Sox are 11-15 since May 26, but snapped a three-game losing streak and avoided a series sweep by beating the Chicago White 8-7 in 10 innings Thursday.
Red Sox manager John Farrell made several unorthodox moves in an effort to avoid the club's first four-game skid this season.
Farrell used closer Craig Kimbrel for two full innings for the first time in more than five years, played Travis Shaw in the outfield for the second time in his career and went without a backup catcher from the seventh inning on.
"We're staring at a four-game sweep at home, and that's never a good thing," Farrell said. "You find a way to pull out all the stops."
The Red Sox are in a stretch in which 35 of 41 games are against teams that entered Thursday with at least a .500 record. Boston is 19-19 so far in those games.
Boston had a scare Thursday as left fielder Chris Young left the game with in the second inning after straining his right hamstring running the bases. Ryan LaMarre came in as a pinch-runner and stayed in the game in left.
