Despite finishing with the worst record in the American League a year ago — although that was mostly thanks to the non-stop barrage of injuries the club endured throughout 2014 — the Texas Rangers have been in the midst of crafting a pretty impressive season, one that may actually conclude with a shocking playoff berth.
For sure, stranger things have happened, but the Rangers, who are just one game under .500 after thumping the division rival Houston Astros on Monday night, have visions that they can indeed pull it off. That’s exactly why they went out and acquired one of the prizes of this year’s trade deadline, 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels from the Philadelphia Phillies, surrendering a decent chunk of the team’s future to land his highly sought-after services.
It all makes for an exciting and crucial month of August for Texas, who will face several fellow contenders in the coming weeks. In fact, they go up against the Astros twice more, the Seattle Mariners six times, and the Tampa Bay Rays, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles all for three games each. Nine of those games are on the road and 14 of them are scheduled for Globe Life Park in Arlington, though inexplicably, the Rangers are just 21-29 at home this season. Just as important, each of those clubs has their sights set on nabbing one of the two AL Wild Card spots, as seemingly every team is still in the hunt.
At the moment, the Rangers find themselves tied with the Rays, two games back of the second Wild Card berth, so fans will certainly want to think about locking up their tickets for Tampa Bay and Texas when the two clubs clash in the middle of August. Not only that, there are two highly-anticipated promotional nights in that series, with one involving an Adrian Beltre Bobblehead Giveaway, while the other will host a postgame fireworks show.
The Rangers will also see each of the three teams currently tied for that second Wild Card slot, that being the Twins, Blue Jays, and Orioles. The most expensive of the trio, according to SeatSmart.com, is when Baltimore comes to town for the final series of the month, having an average ticket price of $59.98. This makes sense, as that will be occurring right before the final homestretch in September, when games are as meaningful as possible, plus Baltimore is one of the favorites to get into the postseason after winning the AL East division only a season ago. Thus, tickets to see the Orioles and Rangers clash could involve the most activity leading up to the series opener.
As is typically the case, the Rangers boast an offense that can slug it out with any other, oozing talented sluggers up and down their lineup. Adrian Beltre’s bat has come alive in recent weeks, as he begins to look more like the upper echelon third baseman that he’s always been. With Prince Fielder and Mitch Moreland also swinging the wood well, and the re-emergence of old friend Josh Hamilton, the Rangers will have no problem continuing to score runs. However, it could be the addition of Hamels to the rotation that ultimately makes or breaks their season.