Matchup: Ryan Dempster vs. Jered Weaver

September, 18, 2012
9/18/12
1:00
PM CT
The Texas Rangers begin a six-game road trip through Anaheim and Seattle tonight at 9:05 p.m. on ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM and FSSW. Ryan Dempster is on the mound for the Rangers as Jered Weaver goes for the Angels. A quick look at the matchup:

PODCAST
Rangers president Nolan Ryan dishes on the AL West race, Koji Uehara's impressive outings and much more.

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Dempster (11-6, 2.86 ERA): The 35-year-old right-hander is making his ninth start for the Rangers and has six wins since Aug. 1, tied with Max Scherzer for the most in the AL in that span. ... He is 6-1 with a 4.11 ERA in his eight starts for Texas. Six of those are quality starts. ... Dempster has won five straight starts, the longest streak by a Texas pitcher since Kenny Rogers won a club-record eight straight early in the 2005 season. ... In his last outing, Dempster gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings with eight strikeouts and one walk in a victory over Cleveland last week. ... In his only career starts against the Angels, Dempster took a no-decision after allowing eight runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings in his Ranger debut on Aug. 2.

Weaver (17-4, 2.74 ERA): The veteran is coming off his best start since early August, when he pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed just two hits with nine strikeouts and a walk in a win over the Oakland A's. ... The last time Weaver faced Texas was July 31, when he gave up two runs on five hits with three strikeouts and a walk in 6 1/3 innings. The Angels won the game, 6-2. ... Weaver is 2-1 with a 5.94 ERA in three starts against Rangers in 16 2/3 innings. He has nine strikeouts and three walks in that span and the Rangers have hit .304 against him.

Hitters: Elvis Andrus is batting .407 in his career off Weaver (22-for-54) with two home runs and five RBIs. ... Mitch Moreland is 7-for-24 off Weaver. ... Ian Kinsler (.211), Adrian Beltre (.203) and Nelson Cruz (.214) have struggled in their careers off Weaver. ... Albert Pujols is 20-for-57 (.351) with seven homers and 16 RBIs against Dempster. ... Torii Hunter is 5-for-5 with five RBIs. ... Chris Iannetta is 0-for-6.

Up next:

Wed. at LAA: Derek Holland (10-6, 4.50 ERA) vs. C.J. Wilson (12-9, 3.73 ERA), 9:05 p.m., ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/FSSW
Thu. at LAA: Yu Darvish (15-9, 4.02 ERA) vs. Zack Greinke, 9:05 p.m., ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM/FSSW
Richard Durrett joined ESPNDallas.com in September 2009. He writes about colleges, the Dallas Stars and the Texas Rangers. Richard spent nine years at The Dallas Morning News covering the Rangers, Stars, colleges, motorsports and high schools.

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TEAM LEADERS

BA LEADER
Adrian Beltre
BA HR RBI R
.303 14 38 40
OTHER LEADERS
HRN. Cruz 18
RBIN. Cruz 48
RA. Beltre 40
OPSA. Beltre .857
WY. Darvish 7
ERAY. Darvish 2.84
SOY. Darvish 137

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