5 things we learned on this Texas Rangers road trip

Ezequiel Duran is coming out of his second half slump

When the Texas Rangers left Arlington and headed on this west coast road trip they had just lost their starting third baseman for an indefinite period of time and were replacing him with a player that had a sub .200 batting average since the All-Star break. Duran was not driving the ball, was not being patient at the plate, and was just not looking like himself in the weeks since the break. He was struggling to hit fastballs and breaking balls.

The poor play carried over into Oakland as he went 1-8 against the A's. He did work a walk in Wednesday afternoon's game. That was a good sign that maybe he was seeing the ball better. He did not end up with a hit in that game. It was a good sign as the team headed across the bay to play the Giants.

Duran had a remarkable game on Saturday night that has spurred a turnaround. He was 3-4 in the game, with a single, a double, and a triple. He followed that up on Sunday with two singles, a stolen base, and the game-tying infield single that scored Martinez from second. He was driving the ball into the gaps the last two days and making an impact on the basepaths as well. This is the Duran the Rangers are going to need to see on a more consistent basis as they try and survive missing Josh Jung for the next few weeks.

Next: A young player that is continuing his second half slide