Texas Rangers: So The Script Has Flipped

Sep 24, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) is given a gatorade bath during an interview on the field after the end of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 24, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) is given a gatorade bath during an interview on the field after the end of the game against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports /
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Hi and welcome to the twilight zone, the norm has changed. Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish had starts that resembled exactly what us Texas Rangers fans wanted. Colby Lewis did not continue his streak of well enough starts for these Rangers though.

I first have to apologize for the absence of articles since the Texas Rangers clinched the A.L. West title. I was stuck in awe from the performances by both Cole Hamels and Yu Darvish they calmed down every panic button that was about to be slapped by Rangers fans around the world.

Let’s first start with Cole Hamels’ who secured an A.L West Championship, he had an outing that had the numbers of 7 innings pitched, 0 hits, 0 earned runs 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. As I have said before Cole Hamels is a professional player who  can turn it on whenever he needs to.

What a surprise it was though that he only allowed 2 walks as he was the A.L. leading pitcher of walks before that game, wait… he is still leading the A.L. in that stat. But ultimately what we need to focus on is that he provided a performance while he was facing a pitcher who had a perfect games going into the 7th inning.

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Hamels ended up turning that performance into another A.L. West division win for the second straight year. This guy is nail, his performance was followed by Matt Bush receiving his 20th hold and savor Sam Dyson recording his 36th save of the season. Your Texas Rangers won this game 3-0.

This performance was followed by Yu Darvish providing a performance of 7 innings pitched while only allowing 2 hits with 1 walk and 9 strikeouts. His 5-0 win outing was followed by a bullpen outing by Alex Claudio, Tanner Scheppers (who recorded a hold), and Jake Diekman who finished things up.

These two performances were reassurance for any Texas Rangers fans that were worrying about our aces. The performance that attracted eyes was Colby Lewis‘s most recent outing.

Colby Lewis will be the third starting pitcher of the playoffs for the Rangers, he has had good outings as of late until today. Lewis was only able to complete 1.1 innings while allowing a horrible 7 hits, 7 earned runs, and 0 strikeouts for this recently returned injured player. This stat line on 52 pitches was somewhat surprising.

So we have arrived to a position in which the Texas Rangers should be somewhat worried. I only say that because there is still a tight race for the A.L. home field advantage. The Texas Rangers currently have a record that is tied with the Boston Red Sox(who have won 11 in a row). While those two teams are tied, the Cleveland Indians are just 1.5 wins behind these teams.

Next: Texas Ranger Clinch A.L West Title

The Texas Rangers need to continue to win to insure home field advantage. Not only that but they need to continue to keep confidence up no matter who they roll out to play!