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 Yankees are hot, and they're running away in the AL East because of it with a 6 1/2-game lead over Toronto thanks to winning eight games in a 10-game stretch.
Past 2015 Meetings: The Rangers took all three games of a series in The Bronx back in their scorching May run when they were suddenly one of the better teams in baseball. Times have changed since, and the Rangers have been a much better road team than home team throughout the season.
Pitching Matchups: Monday — Matt Harrison (1-1, 5.40 ERA) vs. Ivan Nova (2-3, 3.34); Tuesday — Martin Perez (0-1, 4.91) vs. TBD; Wednesday — Colby Lewis (10-4, 4.49) vs. Masahiro Tanaka (7-3, 3.64); Thursday — Yovani Gallardo (7-9, 3.19) vs. Michael Pineda (9-7, 3.97).
What's Hot: Since his return to the big leagues a little more than a month ago, Rougned Odor has been the best hitter in baseball. It's pretty crazy. Over the last week, Odor has been on a tear. He's hit .385 with three doubles, a triple and three homers with eight RBIs in his last six games. Robinson Chirinos has been on a similar tear, hitting .429 over his last four games with five RBIs. Matt Harrison, after laying a clunker in his return from a 14-month layoff, came back with a vengeance in his second start of the year. In that game, he tossed six scoreless innings at hitter-friendly Coors Field in Denver.
Mark Teixeira is hitting .391 with four doubles and a homer in his last six games and is enjoying his best season in quite some time — possibly his best in a Yankees uniform.
What's Not: Yovani Gallardo is coming off a second straight start of four innings, being removed in each before recording an out in the fifth. If he's not dealt by his scheduled Thursday start, it's highly likely that will be his final start in a Rangers uniform. Josh Hamilton went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in Sunday's loss to the Angels and is hitting just .167 over his last six games.
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Speedsters Brett Gardner and Jacoby Ellsbury are incredibly dangerous on the bases, but they're having trouble getting on base at the moment. They're hitting .227 and .222, respectively, over the last week. Pineda gave up five runs in 5 2/3 innings of work his last time out.
Familiar Faces: What is this, 2005? Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, two former Rangers sluggers, are now aging vets in pinstripes, and both are having rejuvenated seasons in The Bronx. Hell, A-Rod hit three bombs on Saturday and on Monday is a new 40-year-old. Both are going to hit more than 30 homers this year.
