Three Thoughts After Rangers Claim Series Victory over Tigers

ARLINGTON — The Texas Rangers let a sweep of the Detroit Tigers slip through their fingers on Sunday night. But two out of three isn’t bad.

The Rangers (50-50) won the first two games of the series to ensure that they won two out of three coming out of the break. They couldn’t solve Tigers starter Tarik Skubal. But they put together two clutch games to start the series, winning on Friday and Saturday.  

It’s a good start to a nine-game homestand that will determine just how much the Rangers buy — or sell — at the trade deadline on July 31.

Here are three thoughts on the series.

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The Big Mo’

Much of the talk this weekend was about momentum. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy believes in it. The Rangers need as much of it as possible to reach the playoffs. The thing is the momentum was building before the All-Star break.

Start with this — entering Sunday’s game the Rangers had gained 4.5 games in the AL West on Houston since July 8. Back then, Texas was 11 games back. The Rangers were 7.5 games back of Houston after the loss.

That’s good, right? Then one looks at the game notes and realizes that the Rangers had won 12 of their last 20 and 14 of their last 24 going into the Tigers finale. And, going back to June 7, Texas was 21-14, tied for the third-best record in the AL.

Maybe the question isn’t about getting momentum. Maybe it’s about keeping it? The disaster scenario would have been for the Rangers to come out and lose the this series. By Sunday, they had at least won the series and had a shot at a sweep.

The Rangers are 28-20 at home. Their next six games are at home, both against teams that are under .500 (the Athletics and the Braves). After a seven-game road trip, they have another nine-game homestand from Aug. 4-14.

The Rangers have momentum. They won’t be in a better position to capitalize on it than they are the next three weeks. It will define their season.

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Corey Seager’s Heater

It’s time to protect the two-time World Series MVP’s hamstring at all costs. He’s figured it out.

After his double in the first inning on Sunday off reigning AL Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, he extended his on-base streak to 21 games. It’s the longest streak by any Rangers player this season, the second longest in MLB and includes hits in 10 of his last 11 games. He finished the game 2-for-4.

So, what does that get you? Well, in those first 20 games Seager slashed .338/.468/.662 with a 1.130 OPS, including six home runs and 17 RBI. He drew 16 walks and struck out 19 times. The Rangers went 12-8 during that span. It was 12-9 after Sunday’s loss.

Seager had two stretches on the IL with the right hamstring — April 23-May 3 and May 13-28. When he came off the IL on May 28, he was batting .288. His average dipped all the way to .234 the game before his 21-game on-base streak began on June 24.

So, he’s feeling it — and that’s good news for the Rangers, who need him to stay healthy and be this kind of hitter the rest of the season.

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Getting Rowdy

The promotion of Rowdy Tellez came with a home run on Saturday evening, which handed the Rangers a 3-0 lead in what became a 4-1 victory. He hit it 432 feet, which made it the longest home run by a Rangers left-handed hitter at Globe Life Field this season.

He’s been here three games. He didn’t start on Sunday against the Tigers as the lefty would have had to face Skubal.

For a team searching for more slug, Tellez’s .444 slugging percentage compares favorably to Seager, Wyatt Langford and Evan Carter.

The most interesting thing about the move is the fit for Tellez at GLF. He hasn’t played here much, as he was in the National League for most of this park’s life. In 22 career at-bats at GLF with other teams from 2021-24, he had one hit.

This season, including his time with Seattle, he is batting .333 (5-for-15) with the home run and five RBI. He’s also scored three times.

There appears to be something about this park that agrees with him this year. Perhaps that’s why the Rangers pursued him so adamantly after the Mariners let him go?

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