Joe Saunders to Make his Texas Rangers Debut Against the Tampa Bay Rays

The Texas Rangers are looking to continue off the success they had in the opening series as they head to Tampa Bay to take on the Rays this weekend.  Texas will send the newly acquired Joe Saunders to the mound as he spent last season with the Seattle Mariners.  With Seattle, Saunders had one of his worst seasons in the majors as he managed just an 11-16 record while racking up an ERA of 5.26 in 32 starts.  He will be opposite Ray's right-hander Jake Odorizzi, who was acquired from the Royals on December 9th, 2012, in a seven-player trade involving James Shields.

"His last outing in San Antonio, there were a lot of positives if you don't look at the results," manager Ron Washington said. "His fastball was more firm than his previous outings and he had better change up and a sharper breaking ball. He just needs to be himself and get outs. That's what he has been doing his whole career. I don't want him trying to do anything to impress anybody but himself and the Tampa Bay Rays."

First pitch for today's games is set for 6:10pm from Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay and can be seen on FSSW.  The teams will resume their series on Saturday and Sunday.