The Texas Rangers, fresh off a sweep of the Kansas City Royals, begin a three-game series against St. Louis. The St. Louis Cardinals hit the ground running Monday night, hoping to carry over their recently revealed offense.
The Rangers’ three-game winning streak is their longest since a three-game stretch on April 6-8. They went 7-5 after the home sweep of the Seattle Mariners but are just 21-26 since.
Texas launched its streak over the weekend, scoring 22 runs and striking out 34 against the Royals. Even with that, the Rangers still scored the seventh-fewest runs in MLB, with 237 in 59 games.
“Small ball is the kind of thing that sets the tone for this series, especially at the bottom of the order, and provides passes to some of the big players to knock them out,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said.
Josh Jung is enjoying a breakout season at Texas. The third baseman has hit in 10 of his last 11 games. He has 16 hits in his last 43 at-bats (.372), and his .316 average for the season is the best of his five-year 50-point career.
Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-4, 3.77 ERA) got the ball for Monday’s opener. The two-time Cy Young winner, seeking his 100th win, last picked up a win on May 10 against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Although he is 5-2 in eight games against St. Louis, the veteran pitcher did not fare well at Busch Stadium. He went 1-2 in three starts at St. Louis. Louis, with an 8.44 ERA.
He last faced the Cardinals in Arlington, Texas, on June 1, 2025, and earned the win, giving up just four hits and three walks in six innings in an 8-1 win.
St. Louis enters this series having won just two of its last seven games, but that win came in a weekend series against the visiting Cubs. After Sunday’s 5-1 win, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol noted the team, which entered the season as the youngest in the majors, had had a grueling month of May.
“They continue to compete,” Marmol said. “They continue to improve. There are going to be games that don’t look the way you want them to, but at the same time, I love the mentality that goes into every series.”
One of these promising young players is JJ Wetherholt. The rookie second baseman has hit safely in nine of his last 11 games. Over that span, Wetherholt has hit .318 (14-for-44) and improved his season average 17 points to .250.
The Cardinals will start Michael McGreevy (3-4, 2.98), who is off to his worst start of the year. The right-hander gave up a season-high five runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings last Tuesday against the Brewers, the shortest stint of his 11 starts in 2026.
This will mark McGreevy’s first time facing the Rangers. If he faltered, St. St. Louis will have a fresher bullpen thanks to Hunter Dobbins. The right-hander was scheduled to start for Triple-A Memphis on Sunday, but the Cardinals called him up instead, with plans to draft him after their starter, Matthew Liberatore.
Dobbins pitched the final 3 2/3 innings to save Sunday’s game. He also saved Marmol from having to use a relief corps that had pitched 10 2/3 innings in the previous two games.
–Field Level Media
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