Gallo hit number 34 last night and it was another monster shot. He also got intentionally walked, showing that teams are beginning to fear his power. I have to admit I was one of those not high on him and hitting just over .200 is still a huge problem but holy cow can that man hit em far and I begin to see why the Rangers refused every offer that included him as part of deal. Interestingly enough the Rangers are on a little tear going 5-2 in last 7 and sitting just two games back of second wildcard. Does Banni have another magical run like 2015 in him to get the Rangers to the playoffs even after they were sellers at the trade deadline? Probably not but it is something to keep our eyes on. Hamels pitching tonight as Rangers look to sweep Detroit.
FW is correct about Gallo as long as he is progressing. I was disappointed that he was in LF last night. Sooner or later they are going to have to put him somewhere (hopefully 3B) and keep him there in order to help him focus on his hitting. Hitting fifth is helping him. Here is the WC problem: The first WC will probably go to the second place AL East team (currently the Yankees). Right now the fight for the 2nd WC team has the Angles, Mariners, Twins and Royals all ahead of Texas with Tampa Bay tied with the Rangers (but the Rangers do have the season series 4-2). Not sure we can count on both the Angels and Mariners to fold.
Rangers sweep Detroit and are just one game under .500 and only two games out of second wild card. Gallo hit number 35 and is on pace to end up with a total in the mid 40's this year. If you would have told me in March that Joey Gallo would hit 40 home runs this year, I would have thought sure, in Triple A ball maybe.
Not a great outing by Cole yesterday, but it didn't matter with the Texas offense humming on all cylinders. A nice sweep of Detroit. With the White Sox coming to Arlington for the weekend, three of four would put the Rangers in an interesting spot - over .500 and in the thick of the race for the 2nd wild card slot. But they must take advantage of playing the cellar-dwellers while they can - especially in Arlington.
Meanwhile in LA...... Darvish gonna Darvish as he gives up three solo home runs and gets a no decision.
Nothing has changed - 2 good outings; a ND; the nest 3 games will probably include a ND, a win and a loss.
Well, well, well - it's getting a bit interesting (again). Rangers have reached .500 and have a chance to go one game over tonight against the White Sox. And the AL Wild Card race has tightened up a bit - Angels, Royals, Twins, Mariners, and Rangers bunched together within 1.5 games for the second WC slot. Three more games against the Sox - and the Rangers could really use a sweep of those three (although 2-1 is probably a more realistic expectation). Next week starts a huge road trip against AL West rivals - Anaheim, Oakland, and Houston - and positive momentum going into that trip is essential to the remaining prospects of making the post-season.
Some relief for bullpen may be coming soon as Diekman pitched his first rehab game yesterday in Frisco, just one inning with 2 K's. Probably wont see him for 2-3 weeks at least but he could help a September run if the Rangers stick around in the wild card race.
Glass half full/half empty update on Rangers' WC chances: Half Full - only 2 1/2 Games back (same as last week); pulled ahead of TB by 1 1/2 games Half Empty - Minn, LAA, KC and Seattle all still ahead with Balt moving back into the picture 1 1/2 games behind the Rangers (tied with TB). Minn and KC are the real concerns since the Rangers do not play them again.
^Not good. Bush to the DL for his knee, Gallo in concussion protocol. Rangers need both of them back with the team quickly. Still managed a very nice W in first game in Anaheim. Need to win at least three of the four against Angels before moving on to Oakland.
Rangers have taken 2 out of first 3 in Anaheim and have chance to take 3 of 4 tonight. If they can go 7-3 on this road trip I will begin to believe they have chance at wild card but that is a big if.
A W in Anaheim tonight will go a long way toward an outstanding road trip. Hope for a sweep in Oakland, but need at least two wins there and two in Houston. Big issue - no games remaining against KC or Minnesota, so Rangers will need some help from the teams that play them. KC and the Twins have a lot of head-to-head games remaining - hope they split nearly evenly. And both of them have games remaining against Cleveland - need for them to lose against the Indians. And the Rangers need to win a bunch in the AL West. My off-the-cuff guess - with 36 games remaining, Rangers will need 22-23 W's and .500 performances from KC and the Twins in order to slip into the second WC slot.
Rangers do win that third game in Anaheim to take series 3-1 and move game over .500 and just one game back of Minnesota for that second WC slot. Of course Seattle, Angels and KC are just 1/2 game back of Twins so this is still a five team race for one slot and Rangers are in fifth position. Amazing that Texas is playing relevant baseball after the year we have seen thus far.
Excellent outing by Perez last night - hope he can harness that ability and continue to come through. Really could use a sweep in Oakland this weekend - definitely at least two W's. Wonder about the upcoming series in Houston next week - looks like Houston may take a huge blow from the hurricane and all the rain. May not be possible to get into Houston by air.
Storms are strange at times, but at this time it looks like the only way in, out or around Houston on Sunday/Monday is going to be by boat and by the first game on Tuesday people might have other things to do than watch a baseball game.. The Astros do not need the games, but where Texas is in the stands means the games will have to be played at some point - or they wait it out until Texas is eliminated and do not play the games. They could swap the three games next week in Houston and the three games the week of the 24th of September in Arlington. Then again the storm may go due west after wiping out the area between Corpus and Port Lavaca.
Rangers wasted a very good outing by Martinez last night - the offense couldn't capitalize on hits and baserunners, scoring only one run. That was a game the Rangers could have (and should have) won. Now the heat is on to win the last two against Oakland Saturday and Sunday. Then we'll have to wait to see the alternatives for the planned trip to Houston - Hurricane Harvey will have a lot ot say about that. BTW, we're offering prayers for all the folks in the path of Harvey - this is a really intense storm and still has the potential for more damage.
If what is quoted in the Astro's thread is anywhere near the truth MLB should take over the Rangers' franchise. There was no reason other than wanting to be a bunch of a$$-holes not to have switched series.
On the surface it looks bad, but dig a little deeper and I see a certain opportunistic front office using the media to make the other look bad. Lost in the Ryan statement is the fair offer by the Rangers, which by precedent is in line with what has happened in other games displaced for extraordinary circumstances. Which city area has more Astros fans, DFW or Tampa? https://www.yahoo.com/sports/astros-rangers-spoil-unifying-series-044810738.html
DMN has a couple of good articles on the switch series debacle that I am not linking too since they are paysite but there is a lot more to the story then just the Rangers wouldnt do it. I can take JD and his crew to task for a lot of things but this is just the media making something out of what shouldn't be much.
That all ignores that the Astros would have been giving the Rangers home-field advantage for this series when it belonged to the Astros. The Rangers were willing to help out, *but* with conditions. I still say this looks worse for the Rangers from a PR standpoint. You don't see videos of rescuers floating up to stranded people and saying, "We can help you out, but we need gas money first."
Sorry but this was a firing offense. Texas worrying about a 12 game road trip at the end of the season when the Rangers will likely have nothing to play for when some of the Astros are will not have homes to go to on Thursday night.
Harvey is a tragedy and the focus should be on saving lives and helping all those people, this issue is a tempest in a teapot. The Rangers donated a million dollars yesterday to relief efforts (and hopefully all of us not affected are doing our part through Red Cross, Catholic Charities, Salvation Army etc. all of which are great organizations that are mobilizing to help). Baseball is a game and weeks like last week and this one keep that in perspective.
So after dropping three straight to worst team in AL, Rangers of course win first two against the Astros in TB. This team is so schizo. With 30 games left and .500 record it is hard to see this team doing much better than 15-15 or maybe 16-14 over this last stretch. On good note Perez seems to have kicked it in and he and Cashner look like solid parts of rotation next year behind Hamels.
I will give you Cashner, but we have thought Perez had matured before so I believe they should defer on him until the dust settles after the upcoming FA period.
