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: Simply put, the Indians are one of the worst teams in baseball, and if not for Corey Kluber's amazing start the other night would pretty much be irrelevant. The Rangers need to win this series.
Past Meetings: This is the teams' first meeting of the year, but the Indians owned Texas a year ago, winning six of seven meetings.
Pitching Matchups: Friday -- Wandy Rodriguez (1-1, 2.70 ERA) vs. Bruce Chen (0-1, 13.50); Saturday -- Danny Salazar (4-1, 3.27) vs. Colby Lewis (3-2, 2.40); Sunday -- Carlos Carrasco (4-3, 4.84) vs. Nick Martinez (2-0, 1.88).
What's Hot: Delino DeShields has solidified his spot on the Rangers' roster with his recent tear over his past six games in Leonys Martin's absence. In 15 at-bats, he's batting .533 with two doubles and a triple. Shin-Soo Choo has completely turned around his season after an awful start. In his past seven games, he's batting .483 with two doubles and two homers. Colby Lewis has been fantastic in his last two starts and is now among the league leaders in ERA.
Former Ranger David Murphy is batting .500 over the past week with a homer, but the Indians' hottest bat has belonged to Jason Kipnis, who's sporting a .542 average over that same time. Salazar struck out 11 and allowed one run over seven innings in his last start.
What's Not: Carlos Peguero is flirting with a demotion with Josh Hamilton's pending arrival. Peguero is batting just .087 in his last seven games with 13 strikeouts and two walks. Elvis Andrus is batting .192 over the same time.
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Chen gave up six runs on 10 hits in just four innings of work in his last time out. Lonnie Chisenhall is batting just .120 over the last six with a homer and four RBIs.
Familiar Faces: Former fan favorite David Murphy is now with the Indians, in the midst of his second season in Cleveland. Last year, he tore up his former team by hitting nearly .500 in the teams' seven games.
