The Sox have to be feeling good after their last couple of games. 30 hits and 24 runs will do that to a team, especially when it comes against a division leader who had dominated them through the first four games of the season series.
So mission accomplished when it comes to this series. A series split down in Arlington wouldn't really be a bad thing, given how the season started and the relative strength of the competition, and when that's done with a run differential more suited for football, all the better.
To pull off an actual series win, though, they're going to need to win a matchup involving Andrew Miller. Luckily, he'll have the fullest lineup behind him the Sox have seen in a week.
Boston Red Sox (79-50)
- Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
- Jed Lowrie, 3B
- Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
- Dustin Pedroia, 2B
- David Ortiz, DH
- Carl Crawford, LF
- Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
- Josh Reddick, RF
- Marco Scutaro, SS
Texas Rangers (74-57)
- Ian Kinsler, 2B
- Elvis Andrus, SS
- Josh Hamilton, LF
- Michael Young, DH
- Nelson Cruz, RF
- Mike Napoli, 1B
- Yorvit Torrealba, C
- Craig Gentry, CF
- Omar Quintanilla, 3B
Pitching Matchup: Andrew Miller (5-1, 4.99 ERA) vs. Alexi Ogando (12-5, 3.30 ERA)
The good news for Andrew Miller is that their plate discipline doesn't quite reach the heights the rest of their offensive tools do-important given his issues when it comes to control. The bad news is that they're not particularly bad at that sort of thing, either, and they've got the power to make Miller pay for his mistakes.
Alexi Ogando faces a situation similar to that of Matt Harrison yesterday, with a tough lineup posing an unusually stiff challenge to a relatively inexperienced Major League starter. The advantage for Ogando is that he seems, generally, to be a slightly better pitcher than Harrison. The disadvantage come from being right-handed, which is usually a pretty bad sign for opponents of the Sox.