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Rangers clinch AL West despite shockingly small run differential
The best team in the American League West resides in north Texas.
The Texas Rangers are division champions for the second straight season — and the fourth time since 2010 — after dispatching the A’s 3-0 in Oakland. Cole Hamels pitched seven scoreless innings in the clincher, striking out six. Texas didn’t muster much offense against A’s starter Kendall Graveman, going without a baserunner against him into the sixth inning. However. they scored three quick runs in the seventh inning capped by Adrian Beltre’s two-run homer.
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Texas is the first American League team to punch its ticket into the postseason this year. The AL East and Central divisions could still be decided this weekend, as the Boston Red Sox and Cleveland Indians respectively have magic numbers of four and three respectively. The Chicago Cubs are the lone National League team to have clinched after wrapping up the NL Central last week.
If you looked only at the Rangers 90-63 record, you’d assume they’ve run roughshod over the competition. That’s not necessarily true though, as they currently hold the third best run differential in their own division.
Yes, you read that correctly. The Rangers finished play on Friday at +12, having scored 734 runs and allowed 722 runs this season. Even the Colorado Rockies, who could be eliminated from playoff contention this weekend, had a better differential at +12 coming into Friday. Of course, the name of the game is winning. The Rangers have that part down pretty strong, as evidenced by their 36-11 record in one-run games and 47 victories in games they’ve trailed.
Some might even call their success luck. Is that really an insult though? Luck plays a part in every team’s success. It’s how you make the luck work for you that separates contenders and pretenders.
Besides, this Rangers team will become extremely dangerous now that they’re in. With Cole Hamels, Yu Darvish and Colby Lewis atop the rotation, they set up to be competitive in a short series. All three pitchers have had their issues, but all three are capable of controlling good offenses.
Not a lot needs to be said about Texas’ offense. Between the consistently elite production from Beltre, who reached 100 RBIs for the fifth time on Friday, the breakout power shown by Rougned Odor, the steadiness provided by Ian Desmond and the key trade additions of Jonathon Lucroy and Carlos Beltran, they are a nightmare matchup.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
