Martin Perez is set to make his first major league start on Saturday night, as the Texas Rangers play host to the Oakland Athletics.
Perez made his major league debut in relief on Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers. Perez threw 20 pitches, recording just two outs, while yielding four runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk.
Perez has been Texas' top pitching prospect for a few years, despite having unimpressive numbers in the minor leagues. Perez has almost always been young for his level, as the 21 year old has spent the majority of the year at AAA this year. Through 84 and 1/3 innings at AAA, Perez has a 4.59 ERA, and has struck out just 49 against 38 walks.
Still, Perez' first start is must-see television for any die hard Rangers fan.
Oakland will send a lefty of their own to the mound on Saturday -- Tommy Milone. Milone enters Saturday with an 8-5 record, 3.83 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. He's struck out only 57 batters in 96 and 1/3 innings of work, so expect the Rangers to put a lot of balls in play tonight.
First pitch is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Televised coverage can be found on FOX, rendering MLB.tv useless.
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