When Derek Holland takes the hill for Thursday's series finale against the Yankees in The Bronx, he'll be in some uncomfortable territory.
In fact, over the course of his career, only one ballpark has treated Holland less kindly than the launching pad that is Yankee Stadium, treating Holland to a career split of 0-3 with an 8.06 ERA in four outings, three of which were starts.
But the Texas Rangers need Holland to buck that trend on Thursday as a series win would be huge, but perhaps only secondary to a nice day of rest for the Rangers' bullpen, which has been worked to the bone recently, which is starting to show given the normally rock-solid Robbie Ross' rough outing on Wednesday.
Holland is winless in his past four starts and is coming off a oh-so-typical Jekyll and Hyde outing when he gave up four runs in the first two innings to St. Louis before buckling down and basically being unhittable for the next five innings in a Rangers win that earned him nothing more than a no-decision and a pat on the back.
The Rangers need that Holland (minus the first two innings) to show up on Thursday, and Holland said he's aware of his career struggles in Yankee Stadium but knows he must get past that.
"It's there. I don't ever think about it. I know New York has been pretty tough to me," Holland told ESPN Dallas. "It's a new year, this is our first time out here and it's my job to not worry about that. Continue to turn the page and get myself ready for now and make something else happen this time."
