Rangers' Jack Leiter: Struggles against Dodgers

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Leiter (1-1) allowed five runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four batters over 3.2 innings in a loss against the Dodgers on Saturday.

The Rangers handed Leiter a 1-0 first-inning lead, but he quickly gave that back when Shohei Ohtani led of the bottom of the first with a homer. Teoscar Hernandez went deep for a three-run shot five batters later, and Texas never made up the deficit. In addition to the long balls, Leiter struggled with his control, throwing just 54 of 93 pitches for strikes and issuing four walks after handing out just two free passes over his first two starts. Leiter had been pitching well coming into Saturday, with a particularly impressive 17:2 K:BB across his first 11 frames, so the poor outing against a star-studded Dodgers lineup shouldn't cause fantasy managers to give up on him. The right-hander's next start is lined up to come on the road versus the Athletics.