The Texas Rangers will look for their 10th consecutive home win when they battle the surging Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday in the opener of a three-game interleague series at Arlington, Texas.
The Dodgers will send right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-1, 1.23 ERA) to the hill while the Rangers will counter with right-hander Jacob deGrom (0-4, 4.30).
Texas comes into the weekend set off a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels. Leody Taveras had a two-run single while Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager hit solo home runs as the Rangers posted a 5-3 win on Thursday in the series finale.
The Rangers won their ninth straight game at home and increased their winning streak against the Angels to eight consecutive contests.
Los Angeles heads to Texas on the heels of an 8-7 home win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday that completed a three-game sweep. Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman hit home runs in a seven-run first inning, and Ohtani also had an RBI single in the opening frame as the Dodgers sent 12 batters to the plate.
Los Angeles has lost four of its six road games this season (not counting their two wins over the Chicago Cubs in Tokyo to open the campaign).
Yamamoto has never faced the Rangers in his two-year major league career.
As for deGrom, he is 1-4 with a 2.71 ERA against Los Angeles over 11 appearances, all of them starts. He’s allowed 47 hits, 10 of them home runs, in 69 2/3 innings versus the Dodgers while striking out 69 and walking 19.
He also faced Los Angeles twice in the postseason, both times for the New York Mets in the 2015 National League Division Series. He won Game 1 and Game 5 of that series, allowing a total of two runs while striking out 20 in 13 innings.
Yamamoto, in his most recent outing, threw six scoreless inning at home against the Cubs on April 11. He allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out nine in a 3-0 Dodgers win. He has given up two or fewer runs in all four of his starts and has 28 strikeouts in 22 innings.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts praised Yamamoto’s growth.
“I think that last year to this year, the confidence, the conviction that he has in throwing the fastball in the strike zone is much, much more convicted,” Roberts said of the 26-year-old Japan native. “If he can do that, I see no reason why he won’t be in the Cy Young conversation this season.”
No Japanese pitcher has won the Cy Young Award.
deGrom was pushed back a day in the Rangers’ rotation to get the start against the Dodgers. His most recent appearance lasted four innings at Seattle on April 11. deGrom allowed three runs on three hits (two of them home runs) with four walks and four strikeouts in a game Texas lost 5-3.
deGrom has allowed four home runs in his past two outings.
“We all expect so much from Jake,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “He’s human, he was battling command (against the Mariners). It doesn’t matter how good you are. If you’re not quite on top of your command, you’re susceptible to giving up the long ball.”
–Field Level Media
