Rangers @ Indians (April 25th-26th)

[Molina00]

Game 1 Matchup
Vicente Padilla (0-3, 6.00 ERA) vs. C.C. Sabathia (3-0, 2.25 ERA)
6:05 PM central on FSN

Game 2 Matchup
Kameron Loe (1-0, 3.29 ERA) vs. Paul Byrd (1-1, 4.50 ERA)
11:05 AM central on My27

Game 1 Matchup
Padilla: Vicente struggled with his command last time out walking 6 batters in 6.1 innings, but only gave up 3 runs on 4 hits in 6.1 innings despite of it. He is still looking to get on track after a rocky start to the season. He has not had success against the Indians going 2-2 with a 7.54 ERA in 4 career games against them.

Sabathia: He is off to a great start to the season, and would be 4-0 if the Indians offense had gotten the job done in his last start where he allowed just 2 runs over 7 innings of work. He has had some success against the Rangers going 6-2 but with a bit of a high ERA at 4.42.

Game 2 Matchup
Loe: In his first start of the season, against the A's, Loe pitched 5.1 scoreless innings allowing just 3 hits and striking out 5. Loe will be looking to continue proving that he belongs in the rotation after he was relegated to bullpen duties even after posting a 0.92 ERA as a starter in spring training.

Byrd: He was hit hard by Tampa Bay last time out for 6 runs on 11 hits in 6 innings, but in his only other start he pitched 6 scoreless innings. The Rangers will be hoping for the 6 runs on 11 hits version of Byrd, which is quite possible considering his 7.46 career ERA against the Rangers.

[Roy31]

Padilla makes me puke! Hopefully Loe can pitch well again...

[Molina00]

Game 1 Recap
Wednesday's opener got off to a very rocky start with Ranger starter Padilla allowing 5 runs in the 2nd inning to put the Indians up 5-0. He gave up one more run in the 4th to put the Tribe up 6-0, and end his day on the mound. Padilla left having given up 6 runs on 5 hits over 4 innings, but the offense bailed him out of the decision. After being shut down for 5 inning by Tribe pitcher Sabathia, the Ranger bats finally woke up. Texas put 5 runs on the board in the 6th inning, including a 3-run homerun by Ian Kinsler, his 8th jack of the season. Brandon McCarthy took over for Padilla and pitched a scoreless 5th and 6th before being pulled. Ron Mahay came on and quickly walked to batters and gave up another Indian run making it a 7-5 Indians lead. The Rangers continued to peck away though scoring runs in the 8th and 9th to tie the game at 7. Joaquin Benoit shut down the Indians in the 9th to force extra innings. He also pitched a scoreless 10th and finished the day striking out 4 in 2 scoreless innings of work. Willie Eyre took the mound for Texas in the 11th but couldn't get the job done. In just 1/3rd of an inning he gave up the winning run on 3 hits as the Rangers fell 8-7 in Cleveland.

It was a big game for the top of the Rangers order. Hairston, Kinsler, and Young went a combined 7 for 18 with 4 runs scored and 4 RBI. Sosa also pitched in from the five spot with a double and drove in 3 runs.