Texas Rangers’ Adrián Beltré connects on a pitch in the ninth inning, allowing Elvis Andrus to score. (AP)
September is one week away, which means regular season play is coming to an end for the Texas Rangers as they prepare to make the final push for the AL West Pennant for the third consecutive season.
Sitting atop a five-game lead in the division with only 39 games left before playoffs, the Rangers are 21 games above .500 and are poised to make a strong showing this October.
With the signing of first baseman Albert Pujols and pitchers C.J. Wilson and Zach Greinke, many believed that the Angels would be the biggest threat to the Rangers’ Pennant race. However, as the number of games whittles down, it is Oakland making the strongest bid for ending the defending Division Champ’s reign.
That being said, in order for Oakland to overtake Texas they would need to make up one game every five games to erase the Rangers lead in the division.
As bleak as that may seem, the A’s will play the Rangers seven more times this year, giving them ample opportunity to make up ground.
Even if they don’t catch up to the Rangers, there would still be a chance that Texas would see Oakland in the playoffs, as this is the first year with two wildcards from each league in the postseason.
This year, Oakland’s strength has been pitching. They are ranked second in the American league and fifth in MLB with a 3.48 ERA and 67-56 record.
Time will tell if they can remain a threat to Texas after losing 39-year-old pitcher Bartolo Colon to a 50-game suspension after he testing positive for a performance enhancing drug.
Colon was 10-9 in 24 starts with a 3.43 ERA.
For the Rangers, things are looking up. The team is becoming healthier and the offense is begging to pick up steam.
In Wednesday’s 12-3 win over the Orioles, the Rangers compiled a total of 14 hits-half of which were for extra bases.
The Rangers also hit four homeruns, two coming in the monster fourth inning that put the Rangers in the lead for good.
Third baseman Adrián Beltré accounted for three of the four home runs; he went 3-5 with five RBIs on the night.
The Rangers are 13-8 so far in August. They have relied heavily on their role players during this stretch.
Leftfielder David Murphy, who has been a pinch-hitter much of this year, has become an everyday starter in August with a batting average of .387 and 13 RBIs.
First baseman Mitch Moreland is also having a successful August, after rejoining the team late in July because of a strained hamstring suffered back in June.
He is batting .333 in August, also with 13 RBIs.
Catcher Geovany Soto has batted .236 with 10 RBI’s while starting for injured Mike Napoli, who is out with a strained quadriceps.
The Rangers’ pitching is 20th in MLB and 10th in the American League.
The bright side is that the pitching staff is getting better as it gets healthier and is benefiting from an extra day of rest that it gained when pitcher Roy Oswalt spot-started for Ryan Dempster in Toronto last Saturday.
In addition, an already deep bullpen is getting deeper.
With reliever Mark Lowe back from his stint on the disabled list, manager Ron Washington chose to keep all his relievers and send a skill player down, shortening his bench to three; something that is rarely seen in baseball.
His decision to go with a three-man bench makes the return of Koji Uhera even more interesting since now Washington will have no choice but to send a reliever down. The question is which one.
Among those bench Players is 24-year-old third baseman Mike Olt, who has only played in nine games for the Rangers this year.
This move is an indicator that Ron Washington is looking to give his young players experience.
That way, when the active rosters expand in September from 25 to 40, he can include some young players with experience to give some of his everyday starters periodic rests going into the postseason.
The Rangers head into matchups with the Twins, Rays and Indians as they head into September.
