Gary A. Vasquez – USA TODAY Sports
Less then two weeks ago, the Texas Rangers were six games behind the Oakland A’s for first place in the American League West. The Rangers didn’t trade for a bat at the deadline while fans sat around in bewilderment. After Nelson Cruz was suspended earlier this week by MLB, the writing was on the wall for Texas. The thought process was they should just play out the season and forget about any type of playoff hopes this year.
The only problem with this mentality is somebody forgot to tell Texas this. It only took a week and a half but the Rangers made up the six-game deficit and currently sit tied with Oakland for first place. The Rangers have won 1o out of their last 11 games, including two three-game sweeps of the Los Angeles Angels and a series win over the A’s.
With the Cruz suspension, questions arose of who would step up in his absence and could the Rangers score enough runs to compensate him not being there. If this week is any indication, Rangers fans have nothing to worry about. Texas has scored 32 runs in the four games without Cruz in the lineup, including a 9-5 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Texas will look to keep pace, if not overtake the A’s this weekend, as they continue their four-game series in Houston. Derek Holland will be on the mound Saturday for Texas, and the bats will hope to keep rolling. If the bats keep doing what they’ve been doing, then look for Texas’ winning streak to keep going.
Greg Higgins is a MLB contributor for www.Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter: @greghiggins457, Like him on Facebook, and add him to your network on Google.
