Diamondbacks at Rangers
The Texas Rangers are trying to decide what kind of team they plan to be with the trade deadline approaching at the end of the month and are hoping a hot streak makes it an easy decision. The Rangers will try to avoid a third straight loss and stay in the wild card race when they host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday in the opener of a two-game interleague series.
Texas looked ready to make a move while taking two in a row from the American League West-leading Houston Astros coming out of the break but could not keep up the momentum over the weekend and fell in extra innings on Saturday before getting ripped 12-4 in Sunday's finale. The Diamondbacks are trying to make their own wild card push but fell back to .500 with a pair of losses at St. Louis over the weekend. "If we're happy to be at .500, we're making a big mistake here," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo told reporters after Sunday's 5-2 setback. "These guys are much better than that, and I know they feel that way. I know I'm certainly not happy sitting around .500, so if that's the mindset we have, I probably need to stay ahead of that and make sure that we know that we're a better team than that. I believe they feel that same way as well." The Diamondbacks will try to bounce back on Tuesday behind rookie left-hander Alex Young while the Rangers counter with veteran righty Lance Lynn.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, FS Arizona, FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Diamondbacks LH Alex Young (2-0, 0.68 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Lance Lynn (12-4, 3.69)
Young is making his fourth appearance - third start - and is hoping the magic carried through the break after he tossed six hitless innings in his last outing against Colorado on July 7. The 25-year-old allowed a total of one run and three hits in 13 1/3 innings across his first three appearances while striking out nine and walking a pair. Young was 4-3 with a 6.09 ERA in 20 games - eight starts - for Triple-A Reno before being recalled.
Lynn got the nod when Texas came out of the break on Thursday and breezed through seven scoreless innings against Houston, scattering six hits, and matched a season high with 11 strikeouts to win his fifth straight start. The 32-year-old surrendered a total of two runs over 22 innings in his last three starts, striking out 26. Lynn started at Arizona on April 10 and earned a win while yielding one run and four hits in six frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Diamondbacks SS Nick Ahmed is 9-for-18 during a five-game hitting streak.
2. Rangers All-Star DH Hunter Pence (groin) is expected to come off the IL and be in the lineup Tuesday.
3. Texas OF Joey Gallo went 0-for-2 with one strikeout on Sunday, ending a string of eight straight games in which he struck out at least twice.