Rangers Control Their Own Destiny at Trade Deadline After Incredible Homestand

ARLINGTON — When the second half of the season began, the Texas Rangers were 8.5 games out of first place in the American League West Division.

Texas was also 3.5 games back of an AL wild card berth, with a 48-49 record.

After Sunday’s 8-1 win over the Atlanta Braves, the Rangers wrapped up an 8-1 homestand, had a 56-50 record, had trimmed Houston’s lead to four games and were just a half-game out of the final AL wild card berth.

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The Rangers are in the thick of this now.

“I think we’ve put ourselves in position now to kind of control our own destiny, kind of make a run towards it [the playoffs],” Rangers utility man Josh Smith said.

The Rangers are out of the offensive funk that defined the first two months of the season. After building up in June, the team has reached a critical mass going into this week’s road trip, one that includes the MLB trade deadline on Thursday.

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The Rangers have momentum, the most they’ve had since they started the season 8-2. If they were a stock, they would be looking for investors.

In this case, Texas should be looking for players to invest in at the trade deadline.

“When you approach the deadline, you want to be in the race,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said. “I think they [players] knew that and felt that. And they responded.”

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The reality is the Rangers have been simmering since early June. They are 24-14 in their last 38 games, and since June 7 their 27-15 record is one of the best in baseball.

The surge has only taken on steam in July. Since July 8, when the Rangers beat the Los Angeles Angels, 13-1, they have gained seven games on the Astros. At the time, Texas was 11 games back in the division race. In that span Texas is 12-3 in that span.

Sunday’s win over the Braves gave Texas its second straight sweep of the homestand. But a team doesn’t close seven games on its division rival without a long string of winning. The Rangers have won four straight series, are 4-0-1 in their last five series and 12-3-1 in their last 16 series.

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Texas has been exceptional at home. Sunday’s win made the Rangers 34-20 at Globe Life Field and they’ve now swept five series at home this season.

But the road hasn’t been as kind to Texas. The Rangers are 22-30 away from home and the next seven games are against AL West rivals. After facing the Los Angeles Angels for three games, the Rangers take on the Seattle Mariners in four games starting on Thursday. The Mariners are just ahead of Texas in the standings.

It’s an important series. It’s also the final matchup of the season between the two teams. Texas has six games against Houston in September.

The first four months of the season were about making sure the Rangers didn’t fall out of contention. Now that they’re squarely in the race, they’re in chase-down mode.

And they’re gaining on everyone.

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