Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
The Texas Rangers made a powerful statement after the All-Star break when they swept two division leaders. They began by sweeping the Guardians. The Guardians are not any good and only made the playoffs last season due to their division being a joke. The Rangers faced a real test when the Tampa Bay Rays came to town. The Rangers swept them too. The Rangers overcame great pitching and made a statement against the best team in the AL. The Rangers badly needed to rack up wins after limping into the break. The six game win streak was tested when the scary LA Dodgers came to town.
The Dodgers hammered the Rangers in the first two games, posting 27 runs over the first two games. Martin Perez allowed a grand slam in the first inning of the final game, but recovered to throw six strong. The Rangers offense got to work and the Rangers salvaged a game. The Rangers traveled to Houston for the most important series of the season.
Game 1 – Jon Gray was ineffective coming off an injury as usual. He got popped for 6 ER. The Rangers took a commanding 9-6 lead in the 7th inning but Aroldis Chapman had his worst start as a Ranger and gave the lead up. The Rangers offense shut down and looked defeated during the final two innings. The Astros offense broke the 9-9 tie in the bottom of the 9th. Loss 9-10.
Game 2 – Josh Jung, Zeke Duran, and Leody Taveras all went hitless in this lifeless display. The Rangers got decent work out of Cody Bradford and Spencer Howard but still lost. Loss 4-3.
Game 3 – This was a “must” win game for the Rangers. Their lead was at a miniscule 1 game and the Astros were returning two of their stars: Yordan Alvarez and Jose Altuve. The Rangers had to have this game and it looked like everything was against them. The Astros jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the 1st. Framber Valdez threw at Marcus Semien and hit him up and in. This was after Alvarez was hit unintentionally. Valdez ignited the Rangers. The Rangers scored a staggering 13 unanswered runs. This barrage included a Semien homer and an Adolis Garcia grand slam killshot. The Garcia homer was an absolutely towering monster shot. Astros catcher Martin Maldonado confronted Garcia after the grand slam because he was getting embarrassed so badly. He was ejected, as was Marcus Semien. Only one team was affected negatively by the ejections.
The Rangers had to win that game and proved they are still a legit playoff contender by defending their division lead. Win 13-5.
Trade deadline approaching: The Rangers badly need to add at the trade deadline, especially considering Jonah Heim was injured in the final game against the Astros. Heim will miss at least 3 weeks and is the best catcher in the AL. Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly have been moved to the Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani is off the market, as the Angels are pretending to make a push with no pitching. The Rangers need to add depth to their team if they want to hang with the Astros during the stretch drive.
Upcoming Schedule – All Times Central
7/28 – @Padres – 8:40 p.m.
7/29 – @Padres – 7:40 p.m.
7/30 – @Padres – 3:10 p.m.
8/1 – vs White Sox – 7:05 p.m.
8/2 – vs White Sox – 7:05 p.m.
8/3 – vs White Sox – 1:05 p.m.
8/4 – vs Marlins – 7:05 p.m.
8/5 – vs Marlins – 3:05 p.m.
8/6 – vs Marlins – 1:35 p.m.
