Texas Rangers: Top 5 Moments Over The Last Week Of September

Welcome, welcome, welcome to the last week of September and the end of the Texas Rangers 2016 regular season. There have been some great moments over the past week and figured we would just run through those to remind you of how awesome they were.

First let me recap exactly where the Texas Rangers are, 1st place is where that would be. They are currently up on both the Boston Redsox and the Cleveland Indians for the race of home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Now it was just a couple of days ago when they were .5 a game behind the Redsox for this sport but it is crazy how much 2 games can dramatically change the whole situation.

The upcoming storylines that are sure to catch your attention will be exactly who is the 4th starter int he playoff rotation, will Shin-Soo Choo rejoin the team soon, and of course who will be in the playoff bullpen. This Texas Rangers team seems to be having things fall into place at the right time as they head into the playoffs. But as I promised, we will be recapping the top 5 moments from this past week!

Number 5 moment

Jeremy Jeffress is reactivated and joins the team just in time to join the Rangers before they clinched the A.L. West title.

Jeffress was the relief pitcher that was included in the Jonathan Lucroy deal the Rangers made with the Milwaukee Brewers at the trade deadline. Through the first month with the rangers he had pitched 9 innings and only allowed 7 hits, 4 runs, 5 walks, and 6 strikeouts. He recorded 6 holds during those 9 games he appeared in.

If you remember Jeffress had been charged with a DUI back at the end of August. Jeffress then almost immediately chose to go to rehab but the reason was not made public. He completed what he needed to in rehab and was able to still workout and stay in baseball shape.

Jeffress has been very humble and straightforward with the media and even saying that he is still a “sick man”. He understood his mistakes and he is trying to do the best for himself and the team. Since returning to the team he has been in 2 games while pitching 3.1 innings, allowing 2 hits, with 1 walk and 1 strikeout. The biggest moment happened on the 28th when he recorded his first win with the Texas Rangers and the record tying 41st bullpen win for the Rangers.

Number 4 moment

Carlos Beltran turned back the clock and provided a spark of his golden glove outfield abilities for all to see!

In another come from behind win that saw an explosive 3 shot homer from Carlos Gomez, Carlos Beltran was mentioned in Gomez’s post game speech. Gomez described that when you see a guy like Beltran do the things he was doing then it inspires you to do the best that you can too.

Here is what Carlos Beltran did, he made a draw dropping dive in right field to help a struggling A.J. Griffin. Laying completely out to catch this pop fly had the rest of the Rangers giving him props once back in the dugout. It is no secret that Beltran is not the outfielder that he used to be but he does still enjoy playing in the field. That was not the only thing though, Beltran also stole his first base since 2014. His blazing speed allowed for this to happen, just kidding I don’t believe there was even a throw on the play.

Beltran was the run that tied the game up in the bottom of the 6th just before the other elder Adrian Beltre scored the leading run just behind him. Beltran went 2/3 at the plate during that game and his jolt of youthfulness provided why this team is so much fun to play for.

Number 2 moment

The Rangers rolled out their “b” (except for Elvis Andrus) squad after clinching the division the night before.

Andrus had been dealing with flu-like symptoms that kept him out of the clinching celebration and he requested of Jeff Banister to keep him in the lineup for the next day, that was a great choice.

The Texas Rangers sent out Yu Darvish to the mound who was beginning to make Ranger fans concerned because of his 5.16 ERA in September. The concern was because this is Darvish’s first year back from having Tommy John surgery and this is about the time when most may hit a wall physically. Darvish rejected that notion by providing 7 innings pitched while only allowing 2 hits, 1 walk, and 9 strikeouts on a crazy 79 pitches. Not only was that a great outing but Tanner Scheppers made an appearance on the mound and continued his good showing since returning from injury with .2 scoreless innings.

But the offensive highlight was Elvis Andrus and his first multi-homer game of his career. He was 2/4 and while providing 4 RBIs in the Rangers 5-0 win. This win was big because the Cleveland Indians did not win their game with their “b” squad and it will be seen if the Redsox will win theirs their first game after celebrating their division title.

Number 1 moment

Friday September 23rd, the Texas Rangers have their first opportunity to clinch the A.L. West.

For the second consecutive year they send starting Ace Cole Hamels to the mound to secure it. Now Hamels had been less than stellar for the month of September by posting an ERA of 5.86 overall now.

Hamels hit the mound against the Oakland A’s and Kendall Graveman. Graveman would look perfect through 6 innings taking a perfect game into the 7th inning for the A’s. All of that changed when the two veterans of the team decided enough was enough and it was time to stack some runs. After Carlos Gomez singled, Ian Desmond singled and Gomez’s aggressive base running got him to 3rd base, Carlos Beltran ended up grounding out for the first RBI of the game.

Now with Ian Desmond on 2nd, the captain Adrian Beltre belted a 2 shot homer to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead. That was all the Cole Hamels and the Rangers needed as they would clinch the A.L. West while Hamels recorded his 15th win, Matt Bush his 20th hold, and Sam Dyson his 36th save. Hamels eased Ranger fans worries and reminded us all why he is the teams Ace.

Were there any moments that you loved that we may have missed? Continue the conversation with us on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

Next: Texas Rangers: We Play Who We Play

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