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Rangers hope to get Ogando on track in opener with Marlins

Jul 1, 2011 - 3:03 PM (Sports Network) - Not that familiarity breeds contempt in the current case with Texas Rangers starter Alexi Ogando, but opposing hitters are starting to get quite comfortable against the Dominican right-hander.

Ogando looks to stop a personal three-game losing streak tonight versus the Florida Marlins in the opener of a three-game interleague series at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. He began his first season as a starter 7-0 with a 2.10 earned run average over his first 12 trips to the mound. Hitters are beginning to solve Ogando, who is 0-3 with a lofty 9.31 ERA in his last three starts.

There have been speculations that Ogando could be optioned to the minors until after the All-Star break following tonight's game, with Scott Feldman nearing his end on the disabled list. Pitching coach Mike Maddux has been working with Ogando in bullpen sessions and wants him to use his changeup more often. Whether that keeps him on the big league roster remains to be seen.

"We have talked about using the All-Star break to give him some time just to recharge his batteries until we put him back out there," Rangers GM Jon Daniels stated on the club's site. "We have done that in the minors with some of our guys. We have had them skip a start. Martin Perez has been skipped. We do that with some of our young pitchers who are going through the grind."

Ogando has lasted a total of 9 2/3 innings over his previous three outings and allowed six runs -- three earned -- in three innings of last Saturday's 14-5 loss to the New York Mets. Currently one of the AL leaders with a 2.87 ERA, Ogando fell to 7-3 in his 15th start and will be working on extended rest for a second straight time. He also suffered his first home loss and is 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in eight starts in Arlington.

His first two major league outings came in relief wins against the Marlins last June 15 and 17, as Ogando sports a 2-0 mark with a 0.00 ERA in 3 1/2 innings of work in this matchup.

The defending American League champion Rangers blew a chance for a three-game sweep of the local Houston Astros with Thursday's 7-0 loss in the series finale from Minute Maid Mark. Having already captured the Silver Boot trophy five straight times against the 'Stros, Texas managed just four hits off of Astros starter Wandy Rodriguez and Matt Harrison was tagged for five runs, including four in the fifth inning, and seven hits in six frames for the loss.

"One rough inning," Harrison said. "I had a couple of chances to get out of the inning. [Chris] Johnson's hit was the big one. I got ahead 1-2, tried to go down and away and got it up and away. That was big ... 3-0 still gives us a chance, but I let the game get out of hand. Four runs took us out of the game, because Wandy pitched a great game."

Dave Bush gave up two more runs in relief, while Elvis Andrus led the hitters with a pair of hits. Josh Hamilton, Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler combined to go 0-for-10. Michael Young and David Murphy had the other hits for the Rangers, who had won eight in a row at Houston and are one game ahead of the LA Angels of Anaheim for AL West bragging rights. Texas will open a 10-game homestand Friday versus the Marlins, Orioles and Athletics, and is 23-16 as the host this season.

Meanwhile, the Marlins closed the books on a rough month of June in which they compiled a 5-23 record. They ended the month with two straight wins over Oakland and captured a series victory with Thursday's 5-4 win at the Coliseum.

Florida raced out to a 5-0 lead and was able to hang on for the win, as Chris Volstad lasted seven innings on the hill and allowed one unearned run for the win. Edward Mujica allowed a run in the eighth and Leo Nunez was reached for a pair of runs in the ninth inning before locking down his 22nd save.

John Buck had two hits and two RBI, while Hanley Ramirez and Logan Morrison both finished 2-for-4 with an RBI for Florida, which is 3-3 so far on a nine- game 10-day swing against AL West clubs and 14 1/2 games out of first place in the National League East basement. The back-to-back victories have manager Jack McKeon feeling pretty good about his ballclub.

"We got our work cut out in Texas, but I think we can handle them," said interim manager Jack McKeon. "We got a good feeling about ourselves. All we need to do is win three or four in a row and who knows whether it will snowball."

That snowball could come in the heat of Texas with McKeon's club losing Anibal Sanchez's last three starts. The right-hander, who gets the nod tonight, hasn't recorded a decision in those outings and is 6-0 with a 2.33 earned run average in 13 appearances since opening the season 0-1 through three starts. Sanchez has given up just one run in each of his last two trips to the rubber and lasted six innings in Sunday's 2-1 loss against the Mariners.

Sanchez, a right-hander, faced Texas for the first time in his career during a 6-3 loss last June 16 at Sun Life Stadium. The Rangers swept that three-game set and are 8-4 in 12 games against the Marlins. This weekend's series in Arlington will be Florida's first since winning two of three meetings there from June 13-15, 2003.