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The Rangers needed the game that they played tonight! A come back win seems to always lift the spirits of this team, and I would be very uncomfortable waking up tomorrow and seeing that 1 game lead in the paper. So the lead is now 3, but the Rangers have a much tougher schedule ahead of them than said Angels do. The Rangers have 3 against the Rays, who are playing some really good baseball right now, and then they go to Boston for the weekend, and we all know how that last series with the Red Sox went. The Angels, on the other hand, have the Mariners (4 games) followed by the Twins and then the M’s again. I have to say That I will be a big Mariners and Twins fan in the next few weeks. If the Rangers can take care of their own business, it will not matter what happens to the Angels. Here are some things that I am worried about:
1. starting pitching. Starting pitching was awesome for most of the season so far, but now I am worried that they are starting to fade down the stretch. Harrison and C.J. were terrible on their last few outings, Ogando has been inconsistent and so has Colby, and Derek Holland is almost there but I still think he is a little off. If they do not return to form, the Angels may pass the Rangers to take over 1st.
2. Uehara – the pen has been pretty good, but one of the guys the Rangers brought in to help solidify the back end of the game has not done so well so far. Uehara has an ERA over 5, and has given up way to many home runs. If he does not get better, that will turn out to be a bad trade.
3. Cruz – Nelson has hurt his hamstring…again. If this guy ever plays a full season he will be a beast. but he never has. This will be a huge loss for the Rangers if he is out for any period of time unless Murphy can keep tearing it up like he has been doing this weekend. My feeling after seeing Cruz is that it is not going to be a long term thing, but that he will be out for a couple of days or so.
The good news is that Beltre is scheduled to be back by Thursday. The Rangers could use him on offense especially. If the Rangers can take two out of 3 from the Rays and then take 1 in Boston, I think they can still stay ahead of the Angels and go into the next week and try again to put it away. I hope they do better, because it is definitely time to take control of their own destiny.
