The Texas Rangers (29-17, 1st AL West) play the middle game of a three-game interleague series at PNC Park on Tuesday when visiting the Pittsburgh Pirates (24-22, 2nd NL Central). Texas defeated the Colorado Rockies 13-3 on Sunday completing a three-game sweep in their interleague series versus the Rockies. Texas has won six of the last eight. Pittsburgh was defeated by the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday 8-3 and lost two out of three in their series with Arizona. Texas will play without five pitchers and position players Mitch Garver and Travis Jankowski. Pittsburgh will play without six pitchers as well as position players Ji-Man Choi and Oneil Cruz.
The Texas Rangers are in the top 3 in four major hitting statistics. Texas is first in team batting average .272 and in runs scored with 297, while second in on-base percentage at .342 and 3rd in slugging percentage with .456. Adolis Garcia is the leading home run hitter for Texas with 14 and also leads the Rangers in RBI with 49. Josh Jung is second in home runs with nine, while Marcus Semien is second in RBI with 38. Texas has hit 94 doubles, five triples and 63 home runs in 46 games.
Texas is in the top 8 in four major pitching statistical categories. Texas is 4th WHIP at 1.19, fifth in both Quality Starts with 23 and batting average allowed at .235, while eighth in team ERA at 3.81. Tuesday's starter Nathan Eovaldi is the leader in strikeouts with 61 and victories with 5. The right-hander is 5-2 with an ERA of 2. 83.