Rangers holding on to 1st place in woeful AL West
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)—Nearly halfway through the season after their first World Series, the Texas Rangers have six wins fewer than the same point a year ago.
Texas has played under .500 since an incredible 9-1 start and already has as many interleague losses this season despite having played only half its schedule against National League teams.
Yet, the Rangers (40-36) are still leading the AL West—mainly because they are the only team in the division without a losing record overall.
“It’s amazing that we’re still in first place,” reigning AL MVP Josh Hamilton(notes) said. “We need to kind of feel a sense of urgency here to get this thing going and really do what we’re capable of doing. Hopefully, it comes sooner than later.”
Last season, an 11-game winning streak in June and a 14-4 interleague record put the Rangers in control of the division on the way to their first American League pennant.
This time, the Rangers are puttering along still trying to build some momentum.
They could benefit from their current stretch playing 16 of 19 games at home before the All-Star break. They spent an off day Thursday with a 2 1/2 -game division lead over Seattle (37-38).
Manager Ron Washington often repeated his now well-known phrase—“That’s the way baseball go”—during the franchise’s first championship season. While that still applies, Washington is not interested in comparing this season to last.
“This is the way 2011 is going,” Washington said. “If it means we’ve got to go to the wire like this, we go to the wire like this. The bottom line, at the end, if we’re in first place, we’re in first place. I would like to be six games up. … You can look back, and you can always say what caused it, and this caused it and that caused it, but that’s what it is.”
The Rangers played six weeks without Hamilton after he broke a bone in his upper right arm trying to score with a headfirst slide April 12 at Detroit.Nelson Cruz(notes), another slugging outfielder, missed 17 games during the same time because of a strained quadriceps muscle.
Texas already has 60 errors, matching Houston for the most in the majors.
Neftali Feliz(notes) has four blown saves, matching his total the previous two seasons, after giving up four runs in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss Wednesday night to the Astros, who have the majors’ worst record. It was the Rangers’AL-high 13th blown save and their 14th loss when the opposing team scored in its final at-bat.
The first half of the Lone Star Series, when Texas won the first two games before the flop by Feliz, started that 19-game stretch when the Rangers’ only three road games are at Houston next week. That is after another day off Monday.
“We’d like to generate a little bit of momentum with our style of play. Find a way to be consistent offensively, on the mound and defensively,” Michael Young(notes) said. “Whenever you’re at home, it’s a good opportunity to work on those things.”
Through 76 games last season, the Rangers had won 46 and had a 3 1/2 -game division lead—and were only a half-game behind the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.
They were coming off their 11-game winning streak—all against NL teams—that had started with them only a half-game up in the division. That margin was never closer than 3 1/2 after that before winning the AL West by nine games.
After losing two of three games last month at Philadelphia, including a loss to their 2010 second-half ace Cliff Lee(notes), the Rangers took two of three against Atlanta and the Astros.
Their trip to Houston is sandwiched by three-game sets at home against theNew York Mets and Florida, the NL East’s bottom two teams.
“In years past, I can remember being extremely excited being in first place going into the All-Star break,” Ian Kinsler(notes) said. “That’s not the case anymore. We understand there’s a long way to go. … The key is to stay in first place as long as possible.”
With the struggles by the rest of the AL West teams, the Rangers (31-35 since the quick start) have remained on top of the division since May 16. Their 2 1/2 -game lead after Seattle’s 1-0 loss Thursday at Washington was their biggest advantage in two weeks.
“Just being at home in general is hopefully going to be a pick-me-up, and playing interleague games, hopefully we can capitalize on that like we did last year,” Hamilton said. “We’re back almost to a point of having everybody where they were at the beginning of the season when we made that 9-1 run. Hopefully, we can have that same frame of mind and just play the game.”
Texas has played under .500 since an incredible 9-1 start and already has as many interleague losses this season despite having played only half its schedule against National League teams.
Yet, the Rangers (40-36) are still leading the AL West—mainly because they are the only team in the division without a losing record overall.
“It’s amazing that we’re still in first place,” reigning AL MVP Josh Hamilton(notes) said. “We need to kind of feel a sense of urgency here to get this thing going and really do what we’re capable of doing. Hopefully, it comes sooner than later.”
Last season, an 11-game winning streak in June and a 14-4 interleague record put the Rangers in control of the division on the way to their first American League pennant.
This time, the Rangers are puttering along still trying to build some momentum.
They could benefit from their current stretch playing 16 of 19 games at home before the All-Star break. They spent an off day Thursday with a 2 1/2 -game division lead over Seattle (37-38).
Manager Ron Washington often repeated his now well-known phrase—“That’s the way baseball go”—during the franchise’s first championship season. While that still applies, Washington is not interested in comparing this season to last.
“This is the way 2011 is going,” Washington said. “If it means we’ve got to go to the wire like this, we go to the wire like this. The bottom line, at the end, if we’re in first place, we’re in first place. I would like to be six games up. … You can look back, and you can always say what caused it, and this caused it and that caused it, but that’s what it is.”
The Rangers played six weeks without Hamilton after he broke a bone in his upper right arm trying to score with a headfirst slide April 12 at Detroit.Nelson Cruz(notes), another slugging outfielder, missed 17 games during the same time because of a strained quadriceps muscle.
Texas already has 60 errors, matching Houston for the most in the majors.
Neftali Feliz(notes) has four blown saves, matching his total the previous two seasons, after giving up four runs in the ninth inning of a 5-3 loss Wednesday night to the Astros, who have the majors’ worst record. It was the Rangers’AL-high 13th blown save and their 14th loss when the opposing team scored in its final at-bat.
The first half of the Lone Star Series, when Texas won the first two games before the flop by Feliz, started that 19-game stretch when the Rangers’ only three road games are at Houston next week. That is after another day off Monday.
“We’d like to generate a little bit of momentum with our style of play. Find a way to be consistent offensively, on the mound and defensively,” Michael Young(notes) said. “Whenever you’re at home, it’s a good opportunity to work on those things.”
Through 76 games last season, the Rangers had won 46 and had a 3 1/2 -game division lead—and were only a half-game behind the New York Yankees for the best record in baseball.
They were coming off their 11-game winning streak—all against NL teams—that had started with them only a half-game up in the division. That margin was never closer than 3 1/2 after that before winning the AL West by nine games.
After losing two of three games last month at Philadelphia, including a loss to their 2010 second-half ace Cliff Lee(notes), the Rangers took two of three against Atlanta and the Astros.
Their trip to Houston is sandwiched by three-game sets at home against theNew York Mets and Florida, the NL East’s bottom two teams.
“In years past, I can remember being extremely excited being in first place going into the All-Star break,” Ian Kinsler(notes) said. “That’s not the case anymore. We understand there’s a long way to go. … The key is to stay in first place as long as possible.”
With the struggles by the rest of the AL West teams, the Rangers (31-35 since the quick start) have remained on top of the division since May 16. Their 2 1/2 -game lead after Seattle’s 1-0 loss Thursday at Washington was their biggest advantage in two weeks.
“Just being at home in general is hopefully going to be a pick-me-up, and playing interleague games, hopefully we can capitalize on that like we did last year,” Hamilton said. “We’re back almost to a point of having everybody where they were at the beginning of the season when we made that 9-1 run. Hopefully, we can have that same frame of mind and just play the game.”
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