Texas hosts Pittsburgh following Lynn's strong outing

Published

Pittsburgh Pirates (12-14, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Texas Rangers (14-13, third in the NL West)

Arlington, Texas; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Jordan Lyles (2-1, 2.05 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 21 strikeouts) Rangers: Adrian Sampson (2-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 14 strikeouts)

BOTTOM LINE:

The Rangers are 10-4 on their home turf. The Texas pitching staff owns a team ERA of 5.54, Mike Minor leads the staff with a mark of 2.88.

The Pirates are 6-7 on the road. Pittsburgh is slugging .362 as a unit. Josh Bell leads the team with a slugging percentage of .591. This is the first meeting of the season for these two teams.

TOP PERFORMERS: Shin-Soo Choo leads the Rangers with 16 extra base hits and is slugging .577. Hunter Pence is 11-for-37 with three doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs over the last 10 games for Texas.

Bell leads the Pirates with 15 extra base hits and is slugging .591. Melky Cabrera has 10 hits and is batting .278 over the last 10 games for Pittsburgh.

LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 4-6, .282 batting average, 6.24 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Pirates: 2-8, .216 batting average, 5.31 ERA, outscored by 26 runs

Rangers Injuries: Edinson Volquez: 60-day IL (elbow), Drew Smyly: 10-day IL (arm), Yohander Mendez: 60-day IL (elbow), Taylor Hearn: 10-day IL (elbow), Luke Farrell: 60-day IL (jaw), Scott Heineman: 60-day IL (shoulder), Ronald Guzman: 10-day IL (hamstring), Asdrubal Cabrera: day-to-day (calf).

Pirates Injuries: Edgar Santana: 60-day IL (elbow), Chad Kuhl: 60-day IL (elbow), Nick Burdi: 10-day IL (biceps), Chris Archer: 10-day IL (thumb), Starling Marte: 10-day IL (abdominal), Corey Dickerson: 10-day IL (shoulder), Lonnie Chisenhall: 10-day IL (finger), Jose Osuna: 10-day IL (neck), Kevin Newman: 10-day IL (finger), Erik Gonzalez: 60-day IL (collarbone), Jacob Stallings: 10-day IL (neck).