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And while he has continued delivering strong results throughout, some underlying stats in recent games are a bit of a Rorschach test, either a cause for concern for a pitcher still trying to establish himself or merely a natural result of recent stronger competition.

Liberatore (3-3, 2.73) starts Friday as the Cardinals open a three-game series against the Rangers at 7:05 p.m. in Arlington, Texas.

In 10 starts this year, his seven quality starts are tied for 12th-most in baseball. He hasn't allowed more than two earned runs since his second outing of the season.

But in his last three starts, two of which came against top offenses, batters are hitting .260 against Liberatore, up from .214 to that point. 

Six of his eight walks have come in his last five starts. He hit his first and second batters of the season in the last two games.

In his first seven starts, Liberatore walked just 4% of batters he faced. His 0.95 WHIP was 10th-best among starters.

In his last three, his WHIP is a roughly average 1.15.

Perhaps most crucially, Liberatore has been throwing his four-seamer far more in recent games, and in his last three starts, batters are hitting .395 against his three fastballs, up from .221 early on.

Eight of his 17 hits allowed against the four-seamer have come in his last three games, as have five of his nine hits permitted against the cut fastball.

The Rangers, with the worst on-base plus slugging percentage in baseball by a wide margin, present a solid opportunity for Liberatore to get back on track. Texas scored three total runs in its past three games.

Yohel Pozo starts at catcher Friday against the team with which he made his debut. Pozo played 21 games with Texas in 2021 then didn't return to the majors until this season with ӣ����Ƶ.

Texas will start right-hander Jack Leiter (3-2, 4.17 ERA), the son of Al Leiter, who pitched for the Mets and three other MLB teams.

The second overall pick in 2021, the rookie Jack Leiter got a taste of the majors last year. After struggling with a 5.09 ERA in his first five starts this year, the younger Leiter has been much better recently, recording a 3.00 ERA in his last three.

ӣ����Ƶ native Jake Burger bats sixth and plays first base for the Rangers. Traded from Miami in the offseason, the streaky Burger, who attended CBC and Missouri State, has gotten off to a slow start with his new team, hitting .208, far below his career .246 average.

The Cardinals are 32-24, second in the National League Central and 2.5 games behind Chicago.

Texas is 27-30 and has scored two or fewer runs in nearly half of its games.

How to watch Cardinals at Rangers

When: 7:05 p.m. Friday

Where: Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas

TV/radio: FanDuel Sports Network Midwest (), KMOV (Channel 4), Matrix Midwest (Channel 32) and throughout the Cardinals footprint in six nearby states; KMOX (1120 AM and 104.1 FM), other stations in the as well as .

Your options to watch: Input your ZIP code and see your choices for watching Cardinals games.

Game also airs on KMOV (Channel 4)

Friday's game, in addition to the usual airing on FanDuel Sports Midwest, also is simulcast on local broadcast television on KMOV (Chanel 4) and Matrix Midwest (Channel 32). throughout the Cardinals footprint in six nearby states will also carry the game.

It's one of several games this season are set for local broadcast TV on KMOV and/or Matrix.

Lineups

CARDINALS

1. Lars Nootbaar, LF

2. Masyn Winn, SS

3. Brendan Donovan, 2B

4. Willson Contreras, 1B

5. Iván Herrera, DH

6. Nolan Arenado, 3B

7. Alec Burleson, RF

8. Yohel Pozo, C

9. Victor Scott II, CF

P: Matthew Liberatore, LHP

RANGERS

1. Sam Haggerty, RF

2. Wyatt Langford, CF

3. Corey Seager, SS

4. Josh Jung, 3B

5. Jonah Heim, C

6. Jake Burger, 1B

7. Kyle Higashioka, DH

8. Marcus Semien, 2B

9. Ezequiel Duran, LF

P: Jack Leiter, RHP

Injury report

Zach Thompson, LHP (shoulder, lat strain): Lefty returned to Jupiter, Florida, and a resumption of his throwing program after going through a battery of exams and evaluations in ӣ����Ƶ over the past week. He did not receive any additional treatments, which was a good result as they set up a plan for him to recover from a setback. Updated May 26