The first place Texas Rangers have a 7 1/2 game lead despite going 4-5 on their road trip that ended Sunday night. They are about to face a stretch against the best teams in baseball. The big news of last week was that we finally have a conclusion to the ownership fiasco that was dragged out for eternity this year. The auction started Thursday morning and lasted over 15 hours and ended after midnight. I didn’t think Mark Cuban would be outbid but I was wrong. The Nolan Ryan/Chuck Greenberg partnership won after bidding $593 million. That was over $100 million on the original bid by Ryan/Greenberg. The best news out of this is that Tom Hicks no longer has anything to do with the Texas Rangers. Nolan Ryan is a baseball man who truly cares about the team and its individuals. The new owners immediately said that keeping Cliff Lee is a top priority. Finally, we have ownership who is not afraid to spend money.

Friday night, Lee got his 100th career win against the A’s. He pitched 8 innings and now has 10 consecutive starts where he has pitched at least 8 innings. That is the longest streak in the league since 1996. For the season he has 126 strikeouts and only nine walks, which is a 14-1 ratio. Since 1900 no major leaguer has averaged more than 11 strikeouts per walk. He actually got some run support in the game which had not happened since he became a Ranger. The biggest surprise this week may have been from Taylor Teagarden who was 3-7 against the A’s with two homers and a double. That puts him up to five hits this season. Ian Kinsler and Matt Treanor are both close to returning and hope to have a rehab assignments as early as this week.

This is a big week as the Rangers host the Yankees for two games and then the Red Sox for three to round out the home stand.