Rangers Vs. White Sox Game 3 Time, TV, Radio Info And More

The Texas Rangers will send left-hander Matt Harrison to the mound on Sunday as they try to come away with an opening series win against the Chicago White Sox. Texas took Friday's season opener 3-2 but dropped Saturday's contest 4-3.

Harrison enjoyed a breakout season in 2011 finishing 14-9 with a 3.39 ERA. He is 2-0 in five career starts against Chicago. He will be opposed by right-hander Gavin Floyd who went 12-13 with a 4.37 ERA for the White Sox in 2011. Floyd has a career 2-3 record against the Rangers.

The game will be televised nationally on ESPN with coverage beginning at 8 p.m. ET.

Game Date/Time: Sunday, April 8, 8:00 p.m. ET

Location: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas

Pitching Matchup: Matt Harrison (0-0) vs. Gavin Floyd (0-0)

TV: ESPN

Radio: 103.3 FM Dallas

Streaming: ESPN3

For more on the Texas Rangers, check out Lone Star Ball. White Sox news and info can be found at South Side Sox, and all your MLB news and info is at Baseball Nation.

Rangers' Offense Falls Just Short

Texas fell short in terms of runs, but that doesn't mean the offense didn't show up.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Alex Rios Home Run Downs Texas

The Rangers put together the start of a nice two-out rally in the eighth inning, with singles from Michael Young and Nelson Cruz, and a hit by pitch for David Murphy, putting Mike Napoli at the plate with the bases loaded. Napoli worked an 3-0 count, and Texas looked to be in great position, before a borderline pitch was called strike one. Napoli fouled the next pitch, and then grounded out weakly to third, ending the threat.

Joe Nathan entered the ninth inning of a tied game with a chance to build on his success from Opening Day. Instead, the first batter he faced, Alex Rios, took 1-2 fastball over the center field wall and just past the glove of Josh Hamilton for the go-ahead run.

Texas could do nothing against Hector Santiago in the ninth, ensuring the season will not begin on a dominant streak like a season ago.

Texas out-hit Chicago 10-5, but could not bring enough of those runners home. Ian Kinsler added two more hits, now cycling for the season with a triple added, and David Murphy had a pair of doubles. Michael Young also had two hits.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Tied At Three In Fifth

A pair of weak hits in the first inning were the only blemish on Derek Holland’s resume through the first two innings, as he struck out three, but struggles in the third allowed the White Sox to take the lead. Holland walked two in the inning, both scoring on a Paul Konerko double, driving up his pitch count and putting the game at 3-1.

An Ian Kinsler triple started the Rangers’ half of the frame, and rather than bunting, Elvis Andrus decided to swing away. It worked, singling in a run, and later tying the game on an Adrian Beltre sac fly. Mike Napoli pitched in an RBI in the second for the game’s first run, and that accounts for the day’s offense.

Since the third, Holland has settled down, with two more strike outs, giving him five against the two walks. He now sits at 93 pitches as the Rangers come up for the bottom of the sixth.

Jake Peavy has looked very hittable, but the Rangers’ plethora of fly balls have died early or gone just foul, keeping the score down.

Source: FanGraphs

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Saturday Starting Lineups

Per RotoInfo.

Texas Rangers vs. RHP Jake Peavy

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Elvis Andrus, SS
3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Michael Young, DH
6. Nelson Cruz, RF
7. David Murphy, LF
8. Mike Napoli, C
9. Mitch Moreland, 1B

Chicago White Sox vs. LHP Derek Holland

1. Alejandro De Aza, CF
2. Brent Morel, 3B
3. Adam Dunn, DH
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. Alex Rios, RF
6. Alexei Ramirez, SS
7. Tyler FLowers, C
8. Dayan Viciedo, LF
9. Gordon Beckham, 2B

Both lineups feature a single change from Friday's game, both affecting catcher. For Chicago, the left-handed A.J. Pierzynski sits in favor of Flowers, giving Holland a very righty-heavy lineup to deal with.

For Texas, with a right hander up, Mitch Moreland will get his first start of the season at first, and Napoli will call the pitches. This is probably the most dangerous lineup the Rangers have to offer offensively.

Texas Rangers Vs. Chicago White Sox: Pitching Probables, Game Time And More

Derek Holland will make his first start of 2012 on Saturday night, as the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox play the middle game of a three game series on Opening Week.

Holland pitched in only 14 Cactus League innings this spring, giving up eight runs on 16 hits while striking out 10 and walking only two. Holland's final tuneup this spring came against Texas' AA affiliate on Monday, when the lefty needed 78 pitches to make it through three innings. Holland surrendered three runs on six hits, but did strike out five.

Texas' offense will face off against former Cy Young award winner Jake Peavy. Peavy, who hasn't made 30 starts in a season since 2007, has been plagued by various injuries throughout the last few years. Last year, Peavy pitched just 111.2 innings, with a 4.92 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.

The Rangers have had Peavy's number the last few years. In Peavy's last three starts against Texas, the right hander is 0-2 with an 8.80 ERA, and has pitched only 15.1 innings in those three starts.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT from Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Televised coverage can be found on Fox Sports Southwest and MLB.tv.

Texas Rangers Game One Thoughts And Analysis: Already With The Bunting?

No matter how much we actually know that a single game in a baseball season is just a grain of sand in a beach of games, it is difficult to treat Opening Day as just another game. It is the first time a baseball game has mattered in months. A win means a 1.000 record, and a loss means 0.000 (exactly, you can look this up). Even if it's not true, and we realize it's not true, we feel like a win is the start of something great, and a loss is reason to panic.

There is not a single thing wrong with that, especially when the result is the former.

For the fourth straight year, the Rangers have started the season off with a winning record, and the last two times it's worked out pretty well.

In 2012, it was thanks to the pitching; the pitching so many hope and expect to be a major plus for a franchise that hasn't got to say that too often.

For at least one day, Colby Lewis looked more like 2010 than 2011, actually pitching like a star at home. The boxscore says two earned runs over six innings pitched, but he was better than that. Nine strikeouts in six innings, against just one walk, is absolutely dominant, and even that doesn't cut it. 70% of his pitches found the strikezone, and of the 100 pitches Lewis threw, eighteen, 18, resulted in swinging strikes! That's a huge number, folks. That is more than twice 2011's MLB average, against a team that was actually better than average at avoiding whiffs. That is an extreme level of dominance.

The stuff looked good, as well. The fastball velocity was so much of a concern in '11, but it was there well past 75 pitches for him today, averaging above 88 and touching close to 91 on occasion. The velocity was not quite there early -- another problem from last season -- but with few bouts of trouble, that could simply have been holding himself back.

It helped that he faced a lineup devoid of much left-handed danger. The one weakness for him today, on paper, looked like Adam Dunn, and that was in fact his weakness in reality. In the sixth he did a fabulous job of keeping the ball low -- something he could have done better all day, but never hurt him before -- until he finally let a fastball stay up, and paid dearly with a home run allowed. Of course, we know just one home run allowed at home by Colby Lewis is kind of a success, and that was really his only major failing on a fantastic day, ending a shutout, bringing the game to 2-1. Just one game, again, but at the very least we know that -- hip and all -- Lewis still has this sort of performance as his ceiling.

He left a tied game, but the bullpen followed his lead and dominated themselves. Alexi Ogando showed just what an All Star starter moved to the bullpen can do, absolutely crushing his opposition, striking out the side effortlessly with four whiffs of his own. Mike Adams was just fine, himself, and for now the Joe Nathan experiment looks great, as he had mid-90s velocity and a strikeout to finish off the game.

Pitching, people. Awesome, dominant pitching. One walk and thirteen strikeouts across an entire game. The strikezone was just a touch large, but mostly consistent, and fair by Major League standards. The pitching was simply awesome.

The offense unfortunately struggled, putting together just six hits against John Danks, and looking outrageously aggressive, even by their own standards. The White Sox threw just six whole pitches in the entire game. Ian Kinsler did most of the damager himself, with a double that resulted in a run after consecutive sacrifices, and a solo shot in his first two at bats. A tie late was broken when Josh Hamilton singled, advanced on a ground out, and scored on a Michael Young ground ball that found a hole. Thus describes they entire Rangers' offense on opening day.

But hey, it was enough. Danks looked good himself, and while it would be soothing to see Texas a bit more patient, that is just not their style. On a different day, that approach will result in total destruction. The good thing is their pitching is strong enough that they can win even on the days where it doesn't.

That said, sometimes they just don't help themselves. Like when they put a weak hitter in the most valuable spot in the lineup, and then have that weak hitter willingly give the opposing team an out. There was reason to hope that an off-season would end the nonsense of Elvis Andrus bunting in the first inning, but there was no such luck. Kinsler started the game with the aforementioned double, and Andrus promptly helped the White Sox by getting himself out.

Supposedly, the call was made my Elvis himself. Which is either good, because the manager knows better than that, or bad, because the player has a bad approach to baseball. Either way, it is a bad call. The Rangers win expectancy actually went down because of it. It advanced Kinsler to third, and he scored on a sac fly, but he also could have scored on a base hit by Andrus, or the Rangers could have scored multiple runs because they didn't waste outs. Bunting there is a good decision when you only need one run, but in the first inning of a game you don't know that you'll only need one run. Maximize those odds!

The other weird, possibly negative part of the game involved the outfield. Craig Gentry came in late to move Josh Hamilton to left, bumping David Murphy out of the game. As Adam Morris pointed out, this is ample evidence the Rangers agree with every defensive metric and scout: Gentry is the better fielder. The question is why he was not out against a tough lefty, when it would make the most sense to give Hamilton a less-dangerous day in the field, and improve the defense by taking the platoon advantage. The defense matters, and we saw that when David Murphy lollygagged a soft single and allowed Alex Rios to score from first. It makes so much sense to start Gentry in these games, and hopefully the only reason he didn't is because the Rangers know something we don't, or because they just wanted to give David Murphy a nifty start on opening day.

That's enough negativity. The Rangers won. They are undefeated, off on the right foot, and all that good Opening Day stuff. People will celebrate far more than one game merits, but after last season we should all know to celebrate when we can, because if you wait until the last game of the season you might have wasted your opportunity.

So be jovial, go crazy, and throw a couch out on the lawn if you desire. It's just one game, but it's 100% of the season so far.

CHARTS

Source: FanGraphs

Biggest Contributions (What is this?)

1. Joe Nathan 19%
2. Mike Adams 13%
3. Colby Lewis 13%

Biggest Play: Michael Young's sixth inning RBI single (12% win probability added).

Mike Winters's Strikezone

Via Brooks Baseball

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Texas Wins Opener 3-2 Behind Lewis' Solid Outing

Behind a strong pitching performance through all nine innings, the Texas Rangers defeated the Chicago White Sox in their season opener in front a sellout crowd of 49,085.

With CJ Wilson now in Anaheim, Colby Lewis rewarded the Rangers faith in him with a dominant six-inning performance. He finished with nine strikeouts, tying Nolan Ryan's Opening Day record, while walking only one and surrendering just two earned runs.

The newly revamped Rangers bullpen was even more formidable, with Alexi Ogando striking out the side in the seventh, Mike Adams pitching a scoreless eighth and Joe Nathan closing for his first save of the season.

The four combined for 13 strikeouts, an Opening Day record for the club.

The White Sox got a strong performance from former Rangers farmhand John Danks, but Ian Kinsler got the edge over his former minor-league teammate, going 2-3 with a HR, double, two runs scored and an RBI.

Josh Hamilton had a strong day as well, going 2-3 with an RBI and scoring the go-ahead run in the sixth off a Michael Young single.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Texas Up 3-2 After Six

The Texas Rangers are ahead of the Chicago White Sox 3-2 through six innings.

Colby Lewis pitched very well today. He went six innings striking out nine, walking only one, and surrendering just two earned runs. His nine strikeouts tied Nolan Ryan for the Rangers Opening Day strikeout record. Alexi Ogando will take over for the Rangers in the top of the seventh.

In the sixth inning, Adam Dunn crushed a solo home run into the upper deck porch in right-center to cut the Rangers' lead in half. That home run was Dunn's eighth Opening Day home run and ties a Major League record. He's now 1-2 with a walk, home run and strikeout.

Later in the sixth, Alexei Ramirez tied the game on single to left-center with two outs to score Alex Rios.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Rangers took the lead 3-2 when Michael Young knocked in Josh Hamilton on a single to left. Lewis is now in line to get the win if Texas remains ahead.

John Danks has settled in and pitched well through six. Allowing three runs while striking out six and has yet to walk a batter.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Texas Up 2-0 After Three

On a beautiful spring afternoon in Arlington, the Texas Rangers are ahead of the Chicago White Sox 2-0 through the first three frames of Opening Day.

Ian Kinsler got the Rangers off to a good start, hitting a double down the third base line to lead off the bottom of the first. Elvis Andrus moved Kinsler to third on a sacrifice bunt. Josh Hamilton gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Kinsler, for his first RBI of the season.

Ian Kinsler added to the lead when he knocked a two-out, two-strike home run to left in the bottom of the third. He's now 2-2 with a double, home run, two runs scored, and an RBI.

Colby Lewis has pitched great through his first three innings. He's only given up two hits, with five strikeouts and a walk. He's commanding his fastball and cutter well and is able to throw his other pitches for strikes, keeping the White Sox hitters off balance.

Dayan Viciedo knocked a double through the left-center gap to lead off the top of the third. But Lewis responded by striking out the next three Chicago hitters.

Yorvit Torrealba also gunned down his first runner of the season when Alejandro de Aza tried to steal second in the top of the first.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Starting Lineups

Per MLB.com.

Chicago White Sox vs. RHP Colby Lewis

1. Alejandro De Aza, CF
2. Brent Morel, 3B
3. Adam Dunn, DH
4. Paul Konerko, 1B
5. AJ Pierzynski, C
6. Alex Rios, RF
7. Alexi Ramirez, SS
8. Dayan Viciedo, LF
9. Tim Beckham, 2B

Texas Rangers vs. LHP John Danks

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Elvis Andrus, SS
3. Josh Hamilton, CF
4. Adrian Beltre, 3B
5. Michael Young, DH
6. Nelson Cruz, RF
7. Mike Napoli, 1B
8. Yorvit Torrealba, C
9. David Murphy, LF

No surprises out of the Rangers' lineup.

Fortunately, not much left-handed power out of the White Sox against Lewis, with Dunn being the only major long ball threat from that side.

Rangers Vs. White Sox: Game Preview, TV Info And More

The Texas Rangers look to erase the memory of another near-miss October when they open the 2012 MLB season against a new-look Chicago White Sox team with manager Robin Ventura. For the Rangers, Josh Hamilton begins the final year of his contract before free agency looking to put up strong numbers, but also stay healthy - he's played in over 120 games in the last two seasons.

Texas will also be looking hard at new closer Joe Nathan, who struggled in spring training.The Rangers will open the season with a long stretch of home games (13 of their first 21).

Date / Time: Friday, April 6, 1:05 p.m. CT first pitch

Location: The Ballpark At Arlington, Arlington, Texas

Starting Pitchers: Colby Lewis (0-0) vs. John Danks (0-0)

TV: FSSW, MLB Network

Radio: 103.3 FM Dallas

Streaming: MLB.tv

Line: Rangers (-178)

For more on the Texas Rangers, check out Lone Star Ball. White Sox news and info can be found at South Side Sox, and all your MLB news and info is at Baseball Nation.

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