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Rangers eye turnaround at home vs. Blue Jays

Aug 3, 2008 - 7:54 AM Toronto (55-55) at Texas (57-54) 8:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- The Texas Rangers had hoped their season-high 11-game homestand would allow them to make a substantial push in the American League wild-card playoff. Midway through, it hasn't happened.

The Rangers hope recent changes made to their coaching staff can spark an improvement to their lackluster pitching numbers on Sunday when they face the Toronto Blue Jays.

With the best offense in the majors, Texas hoped a long stretch of games at hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark could help them gain ground on wild card-leading Boston (63-48), which led the Rangers by 5 1/2 games when the homestand started on July 27.

But while the Red Sox dropped three of five, Texas has dropped a half-game back of Boston due to its inability to keep opponents off the scoreboard - a trend that has contributed to the Rangers' 3-3 record during the homestand.

The Rangers have allowed 658 runs -111 more than the nearest AL team - which contributed to the dismissal of pitching coach Mark Connor and bullpen Dom Chiti on Friday. Andy Hawkins and Jim Colborn, respectively, were asked to fill the vacancies.

Luis Mendoza (2-4, 7.34 ERA) will attempt to turn things around. The righthander did not factor into the decision despite allowing six runs - five earned - over 5 1/3 in Tuesday's 11-10 win over Seattle.

He'll be opposed by rookie David Purcey (1-1, 8.10), who will be looking to hand Toronto its sixth win over its last eight road contests. The lefthander collected his first major league win in Saturday's 8-3 triumph over Seattle, permitting three runs and seven hits over six innings.