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 Twins are even more surprising than the resurgent Rangers considering the Rangers just needed health and the Twins were seemingly garbage, even when healthy. That hasn't been the case, as Paul Molitor's first managerial gig is going pretty well.
Past Meetings: The Twins were one of the few teams the Rangers had success against last season, as Texas took five of seven meetings between the teams.
Pitching Matchups: Friday -- Wandy Rodriguez (3-2, 3.25 ERA) vs. Tommy Milone (2-1, 4.55); Saturday -- Colby Lewis (5-3, 4.42) vs. Mike Pelfrey (5-2, 2.28); Sunday -- Nick Martinez (5-2, 2.65) vs. Phil Hughes (4-6, 4.81).
What's Hot: Mitch Moreland continues to swing a hot bat for the Rangers, as over his last five games he's gone yard twice and is batting .450 with a 1.300 OPS. Over the last six games, Leonys Martin is batting .300 and has three stolen bases. Wandy Rodriguez and Nick Martinez combined to give up one run in 13 innings of work in their last outings combined. Martinez pitched six shutout innings against Oakland and allowed just one hit.
Mike Pelfrey pitched eight shutout innings his last time out, and Phil Hughes pitched into the eighth inning while allowed three runs in his last outing.
What's Not: The one unbreakable Rangers bullpen hit a big rough spot in Oakland, as just about everyone in the pen struggled to some extent. None moreso than Jon Edwards, who allowed four runs in an inning of work on Thursday. Delino DeShields is hitting .125 over his last six games, but two of his three hits did go for triples.
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The Twins have no everyday player hitting above .300 in the last seven days except for center fielder Eddie Rosario, who is batting .316 over the last week. Third baseman Trevor Plouffe is batting .150 over his last six games, and veteran Torii Hunter is hitting just .143 in the same time span after a red-hot start to his season following his return to Minnesota, where his career began.
