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Texas Rangers: Colon one win away from tying wins record for a Latin American-born pitcher

By Travis Koch

ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 21: Bartolo Colon #40 of the Texas Rangers delivers against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Globe Life Park on May 21, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TX - MAY 21: Bartolo Colon #40 of the Texas Rangers delivers against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Globe Life Park on May 21, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) /
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Texas Rangers starting pitcher Bartolo Colon is one win away from tying Dennis Martinez‘s record for most wins by a Latin American-born pitcher. Can he tie it tonight?

A win tonight from Texas Rangers starting pitcher Bartolo Colon will tie him with Dennis Martinez as the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in MLB history. The potential achievement has been Colon’s driving force all year-long.

Colon, the 45-year-old and 21-year MLB veteran, admitted that the reason he continues to play is so he can hold said record. Whether or not accomplishing the record will lead to retirement remains to be seen. However, that is not what is important at the moment. One win away from tying Martinez, two wins away from the record…

Can Bartolo achieve the record tonight?

He has a lot playing to his favor. First off, he will be facing the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox have the third worst record in the American League. They rank 13th in the AL in runs scored, 10th in batting average and 11th in home runs. If Colon had his pick at a team to tie the record, the White Sox would likely be high on the list.

Texas Rangers
SEATTLE, WA – MAY 16: Bartolo Colon #40 of the Texas Rangers waves to fans as he is replaced in the eighth inning against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field on May 16, 2018 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Lindsey Wasson/Getty Images) /

Secondly, it’s Bartolo! He clearly knows how to win ballgames as he’s done so 244 times in his career.

Lastly, he will be backed by a white-hot Texas Rangers offense. The Texas offense has average six runs per game over their last 12 games. They’ve climbed the charts to 7th in the AL in runs scored on the season.

Bartolo Colon will be highly motivated tonight as he certainly wants to inch one win closer to becoming the winningest Latin American-born pitcher in the game’s history. Plus, I’m sure he wants to finally put the long-awaited and sought after record to rest.

Next: Cole Hamels linked to Mariners

He’s not going for win number 300 or 512 (511 is the all-time wins record, held by Cy Young). But he is going for the record that he holds closest to his baseball heart.  Hopefully he will be able tie it tonight and conquer it five days from now.

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