The Texas Rangers moved into first place in the AL West Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over the punchless Oakland Athletics. It was a very close game for two teams with very different levels of scoring this year. The Rangers sit second in the AL with 5.8 runs per game, the Athletics last at 4.1 runs per game. Oakland pitches much better, however, as they post a 3.90 ERA, second in the AL, and Texas comes in at 5.11, 9th. I guess this was a case of good hitting beating good pitching.
The Rangers move 1/2 game ahead of the Mariners. Like the Athletics, the Mariners pitch better than they hit. Offense seems to be carrying the day in the AL West for a change.
Nobody will ever confuse the Rangers staff with, say, the Dodgers in the sixties. There’s a bit of difference in actual quality, not to mention ballparks and overall offensive levels.
But Texas has been pitching much better lately. Over the last seven days (okay, tiny sample) the Rangers actually lead the AL with a staff ERA of 3.23. Not surprisingly with Texas’ offense, they’ve gone 5-2 over the stretch.
In the thoroughly mediocre AL West a “streak” like that gets you to first place. I doubt the Rangers will lead the league in pitching for very long. But this team doesn’t need great or good or even average pitching to win the division.
The hurlers just have to avoid reeking completely. So far this season, they have.
Maybe Texas will see fit to cancel, or postpone, summer this year so the Rangers can remain competitive after the All Star break. Unless they start accruing a serious lead in the division, I can’t imagine that the team has much of a shot down the stretch.
Why not? Anybody could win this division. There aren’t any really good teams in it. Texas is the only club above water on run diff with a mighty +9.