Originally edited & published at Central Track.
Right now, I mostly just want to shred the Ken Griffey Jr. Presents Major League Baseball for SNES theme song on a guitar. And if I could, trust me, I would. The play coming out of Adrian Beltre has me that pumped. The man has shown it all this week — stellar infielding, ridiculous consistency at the plate (he’s hitting .519 for the week), plenty of power — and he even hit for the cycle for the second time in his career.
Interesting, each time he’s hit for the cycle, he’s done so at Rangers Ballpark. No other player in big league history has accomplished that feat twice in any one ballpark. He also joined the great Joe DiMaggio this week as one of only two players in MLB history to hit for the cycle in one game and hit three homers in another, and all within the same week.
Obviously, the MLB had no choice but to name him the AL Player of the Week. But in Our Hearts he will always be known that guy who won us the World Series.
Wait a second.
Ahem.
As for the rest of the rest the Rangers, they’re not playing too shabby, either.
Collectively, the lineup hit .313 with 159 total bases in 275 at-bats over the past week. And, in the past two weeks, Your Texas Rangers have only lost two games.
Just a couple more mighty feats in their War Against the League, one assumes.
They’re showing no signs of slowing, either.
Against Tampa Bay last night, the Rangers narrowly escaped a 4th inning comeback from the Rays while pitcher Yu Darvish earned a shutout and his 13th win of the season and the team edged out a two-game lead over the Yankees for bragging rights as the best team in the American League.
Yeah, this team is pretty good, huh?
• The Rangers’ hottest hitter in the last seven days is, well, Adrian Beltre (.313), who had 15 hits in 29 at-bats, including that three-home-run torrential onslaught against Baltimore that even has some folks already jabbering of his status as a potential future Hall of Famer.
• The AL West-leading Rangers (77-52) own the best record in the American League. Meanwhile, they lead the Oakland Athletics by 5.5 games, the Angels by 10.5, and are one game behind the National League’s Cincinatti Reds for the best record in all of baseball.
• The Rangers’ pitching situation remains stable, with Matt Harrison picking up his 15th win of the season. At 26 years old, he’s the fourth-youngest in ballclub history to reach that mark, just behind Derek Holland, who did it last season at 24. Speaking of Mr. Holland: He picked up his fourth straight victory on Monday, which we assume is due to the comeback of the ‘stache. Has to be, right?
• Scott Feldman won six consecutive decisions in May and June, and, for that, we were bragging on him while the rest of the rotation was in a rut. But what’s happened since? Four straight losses have set Feldman back to a 6-10 record, and his ERA has jumped to 4.95.
• Here’s a fun fact: Mitch Moreland hit the first grand slam of his career this week against former Rangers’ pitcher Tommy Hunter. Last season, he thought he had one against Oakland, but it was washed out of the record books with the rains that canceled that game.
• The Rangers made a few notable transactions this week. Early on, Michael Young was placed on the paternity list bringing, Luis Hernandez back up from Round Rock. Hernandez then went back down to Round Rock on Monday with Young’s return. The Rangers also reinstated pitcher Koji Uehara from the 15-day DL, and optioned Tanner Scheppers to Round Rock. They also agreed to terms with right-handed pitcher Mike Zouzalik, signing him to a minor league contract.