2010 ALDS Game 3 Preview & Free Pick
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Tampa Bay Rays (96-66) vs. Texas Rangers (90-72)
Saturday, October 9, 2010 -5 PM ET on TBS
Starting Pitchers
Tampa Bay: Matt Garza 21-7, 3.18
Texas: Colby Lewis 13-13, 3.72
The Texas Rangers and the Tampa Bay Rays face off for game three of their divisional series on Saturday, October 9, 2010 at 5 PM EST. The Rays are on the verge of elimination after being shut out in a game 2 loss to Texas Thursday, 6-0. They lost game one by a score of 5-1, and must be wondering where their offense has went.
Colby Lewis will be making his first postseason start after a solid year. Lewis came over from Japan and provided a solid boost to the Rangers staff, totaling 13 wins with a 3.72 era, with 196 strikeouts in 201 innings of regular season play. He did fade a bit down the stretch posting a 4.55 era in 59 innings during his last ten starts.
The Texas offense has been its backbone all year, and continues to roll in the postseason. In the last game, five starters had hits, led by Michael Young in the two hole; he went 2-4 with 3 RBIs and a homerun. Ian Kinsler provided the rest of the offense from the sixth spot, going 2-4 with 2 RBIs. That was all Texas needed as James Shields lacked command and left the game early.
Matt Garza takes the mound for Tampa; he last faced them back on August 17 and pitched seven innings surrendering five hits while striking out ten. It was one of his best performances of the season, and he will hope to repeat that success. He struck out 150 for the season in 204 innings of work.
That may spell trouble for a Tampa offense that has been nonexistent. Tensions are running high, and Joe Maddon was ejected for arguing a close call in game two. Maybe he was just trying to light a fire under his team, who desperately need it.
He pulled the starter James Shields and brought in ground baller Chad Qualls to face Michael Young, and the umpire ruled no swing on a 2-2 pitch. Young went on to homer, and crush Tampa’s confidence at that point.
It’s doubtful we will see Qualls in another pressure situation should it occur, since he lost the job as a closer in the regular season, and then collapsed in the postseason.
While the lineup is known for its streakiness, it’s firing on one cylinder right now. Main power threat Carlos Pena had the night off, leaving weak utility man Ben Zobrist to man first. He went 0-3 with a walk, and has the highest postseason average of the regulars with .286. Third baseman Evan Longoria left a trio of men on base, and is now hitting .125. The team struck out ten times.
The odds makers have the Rangers as a -1.5 point favorite with an over/under runs total of 9.
Prediction: It’s pretty easy to pick Texas to sweep. I’d like to say they will pull off one win in the series, but the bats are asleep, and Texas is in full gear.
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