Game 1 Matchup
Kevin Millwood (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. John Lackey (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
9:05 PM Central on ESPN2
Game 2 Matchup
Vicente Padilla (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Kelvim Escobar (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
9:05 PM Central
Game 3 Matchup
Brandon McCarthy (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Ervin Santana (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
2:35 PM Central on FSN
Game 1 Matchup
Millwood: Led the Rangers in wins, innings pitched, and strikeouts last season. Finished 9-5 with a 3.74 ERA in 17 starts on the road last year and has pitched well against the Angels in his career going 1-0 with a 3.00 ERA in 3 career starts against them.
Lackey: Was the Angels ace last year winning 13 games with a 3.56 ERA and struck out 190 batters in 217 innings and pitched 2 shutouts. He did not pitch well against the Rangers last year though going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 4 starts against them. His home ERA last year was 0.65 points higher than his road ERA.
Game 2 Matchup
Padilla: Had a career year in 2006 posting career highs in wins, starts, quality starts, and strikeouts. In 16 road starts Padilla went 7-5 with a 4.20 ERA. He did not pitch well against the Angels however, going 2-0 with a 5.09 ERA in 4 starts against them in '06.
Escobar: Had a solid season for the Angels in '06 winning 11 games and posting an ERA of 3.61 over 30 starts. He pitched much better on the road than at home posting a 3.35 ERA vs. a 3.92 home ERA. He also struggled in 4 starts against Texas going 0-3 with a 7.16 ERA in 2006.
Game 3 Matchup
McCarthy: Brandon's game 3 start will be only the 13th start of his major league career. In his 12 career starts he has been solid posting a 4-3 record with a 4.12 ERA. He has pitched 4 times against the Angels in his career, all of them in relief, and has posted a 4.26 ERA in those games.
Santana: Ervin had a very solid sophomore campaign with the Angels last year winning a career high 16 games and posting a 4.28 ERA. He was near dominating at home going 10-2 with a 3.02 ERA in 17 starts. He struggled against the Rangers though going 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA in 3 starts against them in 2006.