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Texas Rangers news: AL race back on, pitching gets shuffled and Josh Jung isn’t done

The Rangers came out of the break swinging, but rotation questions and Josh Jung's surprise surge are making just as many headlines as their playoff climb.
ByOliver Vandervoort|
Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images

The Texas Rangers are officially back in the AL playoff race. Thanks to a second straight win over the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers, Bruce Bochy's squad started the second half of the season playing perhaps its best baseball of the season. Maybe the All-Star break was enough to let a talented team hit the reset button.

Starting pitcher Kumar Rocker has certainly hit the reset button. His 6.1 innings of 1 hit, and no earned runs on Saturday night was a masterpiece. And thanks in large part to a pitching staff that's been among the best in baseball, the Rangers are now just 6.5 games back from first in the West and just 2.5 games out of the Wild Card.

Nathan Eovaldi gets next start pushed back

Not everything was good news on Saturday night. Texas Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi has been scratched from his start on Sunday night due to back tightness, Bochy announced after the 4-1 win.

Reliever Jacob Latz will start in his place. Unfortunately, that means that Sunday Night Baseball fans won't get the Tarik Skubal vs Eovaldi matchup that was promised. At the moment, it means that Eovaldi will miss a few days. Still, considering he's already been on the IL once this season, there's obvious concern.

Jon Gray shakes off the rust in Triple-A rehab start

On Saturday night, Rangers starter Jon Gray might have taken the last step needed before he comes back up to the majors. He threw in his second rehab start, this time for Triple-A Round Rock.

The outing wasn't perfect, but it was solid, going 3.2 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 run, walking 2 and striking out 5. This was a follow-up to a Single-A rehab start where he went 3 innings, allowed 6 hits and 1 run, while striking out 2.

It's possible he'll get one more start to get stretched out. Or he could come up to pitch later this week.

Josh Jung homers in second straight game

Struggling third baseman Josh Jung was demoted to Triple-A Round Rock earlier this month as the Rangers made it clear they wanted him to figure some things out. Entering the weekend, he was concerning some around the team with his lack of momentum. However, on Saturday night, he blasted his second homer in two games and just might be turning the corner.

It's a safe bet that the Texas Rangers will want Jung to keep showing progress, but his power surge in the last few games is certainly good news.

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