Texas Rangers willing to 'mix it up' ahead of opener vs. Astros

Sometimes, a manager has to go with his gut.

How else to explain why Texas' Skip Schumaker dropped Brandon Nimmo from the leadoff spot the past two games for Joc Pederson, who is batting .214?

The move worked, as the Rangers won both games against the Arizona Diamondbacks. After having Thursday off, Texas will open a nine-game trip Friday night with the first of three contests against the in-state rival Houston Astros.

"Just shuffling the lineup a little bit, trying to mix it up, trying to get some guys going in different spots," Schumaker said. "Obviously, Nimmo has been so good at the leadoff spot and Joc has had a nice homestand. Trying to get more guys on base for Nimmo is kind of the thought. Just trying to lengthen the lineup a little bit."

The move paid immediate dividends Tuesday as Pederson led off the bottom of the first inning with a homer and Nimmo went 3-for-4 with a triple to raise his season average to .288 in a 7-4 victory against visiting Arizona. Neither player had a hit Wednesday, but the Rangers still won 6-5 with first baseman Jake Burger, batting eighth, hitting a homer and driving in four runs.

Nimmo left Tuesday's game in the sixth inning but was back in right field Wednesday. Acquired from the New York Mets in the offseason, he had batted leadoff in every game before Tuesday, with a .351 average in the first inning.

Schumaker sat down with Nimmo before the switch to explain why he thought the veteran could be even more productive in the No. 2 hole.

"Skip and I both believe that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity," Nimmo said. "We talked about shaking things up a little bit and just trying to find another way to score. I've hit in a lot of different places. Moving down one spot in the order doesn't bother me. Again, we're just kind of just trying to shake things up."

The Astros have lost five of their past six games, including an 8-3 defeat to visiting Seattle on Thursday afternoon despite Yordan Alvarez going 3-for-3 with a double and home run.

"I just would like to put some consistency in back-to-back games and we can really get rolling, and we can create a winning streak," Astros manager Joe Espada said. "We know the length of this season. We know how long it is. We just have to continue to do the little things better, like we cannot continue to play from behind every single day. It makes it tough to chase every single day."

Friday's series opener will feature a pair of right-handers in Texas' Jack Leiter (1-3, 4.85 ERA) and Houston's Spencer Arrighetti (4-1, 1.88).

Leiter is coming off a start in which he fell one out shy of qualifying for the victory in a 6-0 decision against the Chicago Cubs on Saturday. He allowed four hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings but walked five in addition to six strikeouts, throwing 97 pitches.

Leiter is 1-1 with a 4.26 ERA in three career starts against the Astros.

Arrighetti suffered his first loss of the season Saturday, 3-1 at Cincinnati. He allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits over 5 2/3 innings, with three walks and five strikeouts.

Arrighetti is 0-0 with a 1.50 ERA in one career start vs. the Rangers.

--Field Level Media