The Texas Rangers have 18 wins at home — good for the worst home record in the league.
On Thursday night with a back-and-forth game that ended in a Rangers walkoff win, the Rangers accomplished something they hadn't done in more than a month when they won their second straight home game. It was the first time they'd won back-to-back home games since June 15-16 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So, by Rangers standards, they're red-hot and seemingly over that 21-5 embarrassment on Tuesday night. Their reward for their new-found home glory? They get to deal with one of the game's best left-handed pitchers in Madison Bumgarner looking to continue the streak.
It's not going to be easy.
Bumgarner is coming off an outing in which he allowed just one run in seven innings with seven strikeouts. As we all know, he's gone down as a legend in the postseason, especially with his performance in the 2014 World Series.
The last time the Rangers saw Bumgarner came in the 2010 World Series, when he tossed eight shutout innings while fanning six in Game 4 of the series, which the Giants went on to win in five games. So, the stakes aren't nearly as high on Friday night, but if the Rangers can beat him and extend their win streak at home to three games, they could get something going.
