The Texas Rangers' game against Houston on Monday night was hard to watch. Despite the fact they racked up 11 hits and seven runs, they still got beat by the last-place Astros, who are now just two games behind the Rangers in the AL West.
A sweep by Houston and — gasp! — the Rangers will be deadlocked in last place in the division with the once-laughable Astros.
So who are the Rangers calling on Tuesday night to prevent another Astros win? Another guy making his Rangers starting debut, the second in as many weeks as Phil Irwin was called up to replace DL-bound Nick Martinez.
You never know how these first starts can go. Sometimes, they go pretty well simply because of unfamiliarity. Sometimes they go horribly when someone is in well over their head, like you'd imagine Irwin will be.
Irwin has one big-league game to his credit, and it was a start last season for the Pirates when he allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings.
In Triple-A Round Rock this year, Irwin was 4-1 with a 2.41 ERA in seven appearances, the last six of which were starts.
