On Deck: Indians

On Deck will be here all season to provide you with everything you need to know (and a few things you don't) about every Rangers series during the 2013 season. 

The Opponent: Both of these teams have struggled out of the gates in the second half, as the Indians have won just two of their six games post-break.

Past 2013 Meetings: Cleveland took two of three games against Texas back in June in the midst of that awful stretch of baseball that included a four-game sweep at home to Toronto.

Pitching Matchups: Friday โ€” Martin Perez (3-3, 3.40 ERA) vs. Corey Kluber (7-5, 3.69); Saturday โ€” Yu Darvish (9-4, 2.86) vs. Justin Masterson (11-7, 3.60); Sunday โ€” Alexi Ogando (4-2, 2.93) vs. Ubaldo Jimenez (7-5, 4.49).

What's Hot: Over the last week, David Murphy and Elvis Andrus โ€” possibly the two players worthy of the most blame for this year's offensive struggles โ€” are starting to hit. If they can pick up their games at the plate and get a fresh start in the second half it could go a long way in helping the Rangers out. The two have combined to go 15-for-44 over the past seven games.

Michael Bourn, who the Rangers half-heartedly pursued in free agency this winter, is hitting .316 over the last week with a homer and six RBIs and Kluber, the Coppell native who the Rangers will face Friday, is coming off a scoreless, three-hit outing, albeit in just five innings of work.

What's Not: Three of the most consistent hitters for the Rangers throughout the season are all in the midst of cold streaks right now, which is a good reason they scored 10 runs in their four-game series agains the Yankees. Adrian Beltre (.214), Leonys Martin (.176) and Nelson Cruz (.174) are all scuffling at the plate since the break.

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Jason Kipnis, one of the best hitting second basemen in the league is in a cold spell at the moment, hitting just .217 in the last six games.

Familiar Faces: Nothing to see here. Move along, folks.

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