Time to bet on Rangers / Tim Cowlishaw

[stevo]

Time to bet on Rangers

All signs pointing toward an end to Texas' playoff drought


10:34 PM CDT on Saturday, May 28, 2005




ARLINGTON – Only God can stop the red-hot Rangers, and I don't mean Jon Garland.

Texas was set to put its seven-game winning streak on the line against the American League's only eight-game winner. But heavy rains postponed the game, which extended the Rangers' good fortune.

They will face Garland today (weather permitting), but they won't face Chicago's other top pitcher, Mark Buehrle, who now will go against the Angels in his next start.

"Not that we ever think about things like that," manager Buck Showalter said ... immediately after pointing it out.

Good fortune aside, the team's current streak should not be dismissed. The club has caught the Angels, and even with a long summer ahead, the smart money is on the Rangers to climb past Los Angeles and make their first playoff journey in six years.


"We realized last year that we do belong at the top of the league," hot-hitting first baseman Mark Teixeira said. "This year, hopefully, that will mean the playoffs."

Hopefully has turned to likely. Here are the five reasons why:

1. The starting rotation has lost its revolving door.

A year ago, Showalter deployed 17 starters. This season he has used five.

And you know the world has changed when the Rangers are playing the team with the best record in baseball, and Garland, with a league-best 8-1 record, is on the mound against Chan Ho Park, and the White Sox are listed only as a 6-5 favorite.

You can fool some of the people some of the time and all of the sportswriters all of the time, but you can't fool the betting-line folks. They knew that going into Saturday's postponed game, the new and improved Park, supported by hot Rangers bats, was almost an even match for the hottest pitcher on the best team.

In the seven games of this homestand, Rangers starters are 7-0 with a 2.02 ERA.

"That's been the biggest thing this year," Teixeira said. "We've had the best starting pitching we could ever ask for."

2. With David Dellucci hitting leadoff, a dominating lineup has been established.

Last year, the Rangers uncovered gems in pitcher Ryan Drese and catcher Rod Barajas. This year's big discovery is Dellucci, batting in the leadoff spot against right-handers, which is three-fourths of a team's games.

He is far and away the AL leader in on-base percentage at .513.

His arrival as a leadoff man has allowed the rest of the lineup to fall into place. As a result, the Rangers trail only New York in runs scored. Saturday afternoon, they were at least 60 runs ahead of every team in their division.

3. Power in the park is back.

As a No. 5 hitter, Alfonso Soriano has done considerable damage. His 14 homers trail only the man for whom he was traded, Alex Rodriguez. He is hitting the way he should have last year but never did.

Richard Hidalgo is famous for his hot streaks. As disappointing as he was as a Met last year, he set a club record with homers in five straight games, and his recent surge in both home runs and walks just adds to the danger of this batting order.

Manufacturing runs is great, but circling the bases is quicker and more efficient. The Rangers have blasted 21 home runs in this seven-game streak and stand five home runs ahead of Baltimore for the most in the majors.

4. It's a two-team race.

Last year, the Rangers were newcomers to the chase and didn't know if they belonged with Oakland and Anaheim. Now, it's just the Rangers and Angels at the top, and the defending West champions have shown flaws along with losing key players Vladimir Guerrero and Francisco Rodriguez to injuries.

Other veterans have struggled. Garrett Anderson hasn't hit for power and Steve Finley hasn't hit for anything. That's not to say they won't. But for now, the Rangers are taking advantage of the situation.

5. The wild-card chase is open.

Last year, even with the Rangers playing really well at the end of August, Showalter knew the wild card was not an option. With the Yankees and Red Sox beating up on Baltimore, Toronto and Tampa Bay in September, those two teams were each going to win around 100 games. They finished with 101 and 98 victories.

You can forget the Red Sox getting near that total or even to 90 wins with their lack of starting pitching this year.

The wild-card contenders from the other divisions will be Minnesota, chasing the White Sox, and Baltimore, after the Yankees overtake them.

Those teams are more likely to be in the range of 90 wins, not 100.

That gives Texas a second option for getting to the playoffs.

Barring catastrophe, one of them is going to happen.