They are 15-4 in one-run games and have won their last six over a two-week span.
It pushed them to 44-25, the AL’s best record and the team’s best 69-game start ever by two full games. It clinched their ninth straight series win, a team record. And they continue to plunder the AL West, which they now lead by 71/2 games over Seattle. In their history, the Rangers have never had a 71/2 game lead before the last week of July.
Bad baseball men indeed.
“These guys have built equity in trusting themselves,” manager Jeff Banister said. “They live for these moments. They believe in themselves and their teammates. There is complete effort and focus. They are aware of every situation. They never believe they are out of a game.”
Saturday was perfect example of that. They trailed 3-0 going to the eighth inning against a team that had lost once in 27 games when leading after seven. They put together a two-run, two-out rally in the eighth and then scored two more in the ninth. And none of the runs scored on a hit.
None of them. A wild pitch. An error. A walk. A sacrifice fly. The Rangers were 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position and are 0 for 7 in St. Louis. They have won both games. They won 1-0 Friday on a solo homer by Rougned Odor.
On Saturday, they did not homer for the first time in 10 games. Didn’t matter.
After consecutive strikeouts in the eighth inning, Shin-Soo Choo delivered a single, and Ian Desmond doubled. Choo scored the first run on a wild pitch, Desmond the second on a fielding error.
