At Rangers Park in Arlington Texas
TONIGHT – Josh Beckett (11-9, 4.34 ERA) vs. RHP Kevin Millwood (9-7, 4.84).
TOMORROW – Tim Wakefield (8-9, 3.76) vs. LHP Matt Harrison (6-3, 5.73).
SUNDAY - Paul Byrd (10-11, 4.58) vs. RHP Brandon McCarthy (1-0, 2.25).
Who’s Hot: Rangers: Chris Davis is hitting .340 (18-for-53) in his last 15 games. Josh Hamilton has eight hits in his last 14 at-bats. Gerald Laird is hitting .305 (46-for-151) over his last 40 games. Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia is hitting .618 (21-for-34) over his last eight games. Alex Cora has hit safely in his last six games with an at-bat, hitting .417 (10-for-24) over that stretch. Coco Crisp is hitting .458 in his last six games.
Who’s Not: Rangers: Second baseman Joaquin Arias has one hit in his last dozen at-bats. Hank Blalock has two RBI in his 13 games since coming off the disabled list on Aug. 21. Marlon Byrd has no hits in his last 11 at-bats. Red Sox: Jed Lowrie has just three hits in his last 22 at-bats. Jason Bay has just three hits in his last 19 at-bats. Jason Varitek has five hits and one RBI in his last 19 at-bats.
FYI: The Rangers’ 5.29 ERA is the highest in the major leagues. They have lowered it from 5.45 over their last 18 games. Kevin Millwood has a three-game winning streak, with a 1.46 ERA over that span. The Rangers rotation has produced seven quality starts in the last 10 games. Prior to that they only had six quality starts over a 31-game span. With 37 more hits, shortstop Michael Young would be the first right-handed batter in history with six consecutive 200-hit seasons. Marlon Byrd led the Rangers with a .393 batting average in August. Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols are the only players since 1954 to have at least 120 RBI in their sophomore season. Second baseman Ian Kinsler hits Paul Byrd at a .455 clip (5-for-11). David Ortiz hits Kevin Millwood at a .467 clip (7-for-15, three home runs).
Nation Notes: Josh Beckett, Mike Lowell, and Sean Casey are expected back for tonight’s game, barring setbacks. Kevin Youkilis, who missed the last two games with back spasms, might also return.
