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 Mariners have won just four of their last 10 games, and a big part of that was the result of a trip to Colorado.
Past 2015 Meetings: The Rangers are just 1-5 against the Mariners this year, but all of those meetings came back in April, when the Rangers were one of the worst teams in baseball.
Pitching Matchups: Friday — Cole Hamels (0-0, 5.87 ERA, in American League) vs. Hisashi Iwakuma (2-2, 4.47); Saturday — Martin Perez (1-2, 6.64) vs. Mike Montgomery (4-4, 3.07); Sunday — Colby Lewis (12-4, 4.68) vs. Felix Hernandez (13-6, 3.13).
What's Hot: Adrian Beltre and Elvis Andrus each have 11 hits over the past seven games, as both are heating up at the right time. Rougned Odor is batting .391 over his last six games and is coming off a day of rest on Wednesday night. Mitch Moreland is hitting .316 with a team-high six RBIs over the last week. Newly acquired reliever Jake Diekman has worked four innings since his debut on Friday while allowing just one hit and two walks.
They were at Coors Field this week, but check these numbers for Nelson Cruz: 16-for-32 (.500), five homers, six RBIs in his last seven games. Look out. Franklin Gutierrez is batting .438 with a homer and four RBIs in the same time. Hisashi Iwakuma gave up one run and fanned eight batters in 8 2/3 innings his last time out.
What's Not: Colby Lewis gave up seven runs on 10 hits in six innings of work in his last outing against the Astros, but he still picked up his 12th win of the win in a 12-9 win over Houston. Prince Fielder is hitting .241 over his last seven games, but he does have five RBIs in that time. Delino DeShields is hitting just .190 in his last six games but he does have five walks in that time resulting in a .333 on-base percentage from the leadoff spot.
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Felix Hernandez gave up four runs on 11 hits in 6 2/3 innings his last time out — not a complete clunker, but for him, it's a bad day. Catcher Mike Zunino has just two hits in his last 20 at-bats.
Familiar Faces: Former Rangers slugger Nelson Cruz is now in his first season with the Mariners. Despite his team's struggles, Cruz is having a whale of a year, leading the AL in hits to go with his 31 homers with two months still left to play. Adrian Beltre spent five years in Seattle — probably the leanest five years of his future Hall of Famer career.
