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 Dodgers were red-hot coming into Arlington but were handed two straight losses, including Tuesday night's crushing defeat in walkoff fashion to spoil a ninth-inning comeback of their own.
Past 2015 Meetings: The teams hadn't met since 2009, previously, but the Rangers have taken a quick lead of the season series in this Interleague matchup after winning the two games in Arlington before heading off to Dodger Stadium on Wednesday.
Pitching Matchups: Wednesday -- Wandy Rodriguez (3-2, 3.03 ERA) vs. Clayton Kershaw (5-3, 3.21); Thursday -- Colby Lewis (6-3, 4.37) vs. Zack Greinke (5-2, 1.95).
What's Hot: Rougned Odor made a triumphant return to the bigs on Monday night with a 3-for-3 night at the plate while driving in two runs in his first game back since early May after a demotion to Triple-A. Mitch Moreland has continued to be hot at the plate, and is even beginning to hit left-handed pitching well. Wandy Rodriguez gave up one run in 6 2/3 innings his last time out and will look to duplicate that against one of the best lefties in the game.
Their matchup against Clayton Kershaw doesn't look too good for the Rangers. Although his ERA is a bit high for his lofty standards, he's working with just a 2.79 ERA over his last seven starts and in his last two starts has 11 strikeouts in each of them. The Rangers have trouble against great lefties, and Kershaw definitely qualifies there.
What's Not: Tanner Scheppers has given up three runs in his last 2 2/3 innings, while Shin-Soo Choo is back to hitting below .200 again over his past seven games. Prince Fielder is in a rare slump at the moment, as he's hitting .217 over his last seven games.
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Joc Pederson, the frontrunner for NL Rookie of the Year, is hitting just .200 over the last seven days and has no extra-base hits in that time.
Familiar Faces: Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson was designated for assignment after the Dodgers opened the 2014 season in Sydney, Australia. He was claimed before the Rangers' season began and he ended up having a breakthrough year in 2014 before securing the closer's role for the Rangers a month ago. Conversely, Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez began his career as a Rangers prospect before losing out in the first baseman's derby to Mark Teixeira.
