(My Sportsbook) - The Texas Rangers head to Cleveland to face off against the Indians at Jacobs Field in a three-game series which begins today. The Rangers comes into Friday's series opener on the heels of having their three-game winning streak stopped on Thursday with a 7-6 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. Juan Gonzalez clubbed a pair of homers -- giving him five for the series -- and Rafael Palmeiro and Carl Everett each added a home run for the Rangers, who belted a total of 12 in the three-game set. It was Gonzalez's third multi-homer game this season and 46th of his career, tying him for 11th place on the all-time list with Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killebrew and Ken Griffey Jr. Palmeiro, meanwhile, is now two home runs shy of becoming the 19th player in major league history to reach 500 homers for his career. The Rangers pounded Toronto's pitching for 46 hits and 33 runs in the three- game series. Texas starter Colby Lewis (3-2) was saddled with the loss, surrendering seven runs on seven hits in just two innings. He struck out three and walked one. The Rangers will pin their hopes tonight on 25-year-old righthander Joaquin Benoit, who will be making his first start of the season. Benoit was 2-1 with a 4.03 ERA in five starts at Triple-A Oklahoma. He was 4-5 with a 6.11 ERA in 13 starts last season with the Rangers and 4-5 with a 5.31 ERA in 17 overall appearances. This will be his first-ever appearance against the Indians. |
