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 2015 season.
The Opponent: The Rangers have been somewhat disappointing this year, but the Red Sox have been a lot moreso this year. The Rangers are about what we thought they'd be, while the Red Sox are trying to get to .500 — not acceptable in Boston.
Past Meetings: Last year, the Rangers were 3-4 against the Red Sox and have played well in Fenway in recent years, last year notwithstanding.
Pitching Matchups: Tuesday — Yovani Gallardo (3-5, 3.94 ERA) vs. Wade Miley (2-4, 5.60); Wednesday — TBA vs. Joe Kelly (1-2, 5.58); Thursday — Wandy Rodriguez (1-2, 3.86) vs. Clay Buchholz (2-4, 4.93).
What's Hot: Pretty much the entire lineup can be shuffled into this category now, which is a first for this season. In fact, the Rangers have six regulars hitting better than .300 over the past week and two (Shin-Soo Choo and Kyle Blanks) hitting better than .400 in that time. In Shawn Tolleson's last four games, he's tossed 4 1/3 innings and hasn't allowed a run, and it seems he might be the closer now.
Shane Victorino was recently seemingly on his way out in Boston, but right now he's the hottest bat in the lineup sporting a .353 batting average and a homer over the last week. Wade Miley was great in his last outing, turning in a scoreless outing over 6 2/3 innings.
What's Not: Conversely to Tolleson, Neftali Feliz has allowed four runs in his last three innings of work with no strikeouts and two walks. In the last week, Carlos Peguero is 0-for-13 with seven strikeouts. That's ugly.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
Mike Napoli is hitting .111 over the last week, and newly acquired Pablo Sandoval is hitting just .087 in that same time with just two hits. Those two hits are homers, but it's still just two hits.
Familiar Faces: Well, let's start counting them off: Alexi Ogando, Robbie Ross, Koji Uehara, Mike Napoli — there are a ton of former Rangers in Boston now. Adrian Beltre spent the 2010 season in Boston, when he led the league in doubles before coming to Arlington.
