To understand just how hot the scalding Texas Rangers are right now, consider this: Since Major League Baseball’s divisional format began in 1969, only one team has begun the playoffs with eight straight victories.
That was the 2014 Kansas City Royals, who eventually lost the World Series in seven games to the San Francisco Giants.
With a victory Wednesday at Globe Life Field, the Texas Rangers will match the Royals record and snap a five-way tie for second place with the 1976 Cincinnati Reds, 2007 Colorado Rockies, 2020 Atlanta Braves and last year’s World Series champs, the Houston Astros.
Of that group, only the Braves didn’t make the World Series; the Reds and Astros won it all.
Reeling off seven straight victories to begin a postseason is impressive enough. But then add in who the Rangers have done it against. They beat the 99-win Tampa Bay Rays 2-0 in the American League Wild Card Series, then went 3-0 against the AL’s top seed, the 101-win Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS. They are now up 2-0 on the defending champion Astros after Monday’s 5-4 nailbiter.
Texas Rangers making themselves at home
How about this for difficult: The Rangers have played at home in Arlington, Texas, just once since Sept. 25, the final week of the season. They finished the year with a seven-game road trip, including losing three of the final four in Seattle and then flew to Tampa Bay for the wild card series.
The Rangers won both at Tropicana Field, then the first two on the road at Camden Yards before coming home to sweep the ALDS with a Game 3 triumph at Globe Life Field. Then it was back on the road to win the first two of the ALCS in Houston. Seven straight playoff wins; six on the road.
Now, the Rangers are home for three consecutive games – and only need to win two to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2011.
“We’ve only had one game at home; we’ve played extremely well. So, it will be fun to get back in front of the home crowd,” said Rangers infielder Marcus Semien in a postgame press conference Monday night. “With that being said, Houston has been playing well in that building, too. We need to buckle down when we get there and play some good baseball like we’ve been doing.”
So, how has a club that lost a chance to win the AL West on the final day of the season suddenly gotten so blistering?
Well, first the Rangers have been extremely streaky all year. They had one eight-game winning streak during the regular season and three different runs of six consecutive victories. They also lost eight straight in August and, in September, lost six of seven to start the month, then won six, lost four and won six more. It’s a rollercoaster they’ve carried into the postseason.
Secondly, the Rangers can pound the ball, leading the AL in the regular season in runs scored and OPS and tied for first in home runs. That hasn’t stopped in the playoffs. In their seven victories, the Rangers have scored 39 runs or 5.57 per game, slightly ahead of their 5.44 runs per game in the season.
What’s more surprising is how well the Rangers have pitched. They’ve allowed just 19 runs in seven games, and 12 of those occurred in two contests. Otherwise, they haven’t allowed more than two runs in a game.
Part of that is the Rangers’ rotation, which has combined to allow just 10 earned runs in 40 2/3 innings (2.21 ERA) and thrown at least six innings in five of seven games.
That takes the pressure off a Rangers bullpen that finished the season with a collective 4.77 ERA, 24th of 30 teams in the majors. The relievers were unquestionably the Rangers’ biggest weakness and the primary reason they were underdogs in each series.
So far, though, the Rangers bullpen has thrown 22 1/3 innings and allowed just 12 hits and five earned runs for a 2.01 ERA. There have been some rocky moments; Texas relievers have combined to allow 11 walks and three homers, but they’ve made big pitches when needed.
The trio of Jose Leclerc, Aroldis Chapman and Josh Sborz have allowed only six hits and nine walks while giving up two runs and striking out 14 batters in 16 innings. Leclerc has pitched in all seven games and converted all three save opportunities.
“I think that as a group we’ve just come together,” Leclerc said Monday. “We’ve really just worked hard throughout the entire season, especially down the stretch, to see how we can improve as a bullpen.”
How Bruce Bochy is guiding the Texas Rangers
Good pitching, hitting and defense certainly have helped, but the Rangers run has been aided by manager Bruce Bochy, a three-time World Series champion who is known for pushing the right buttons in the postseason.
Bochy, who is in his 26th season managing but first with the Rangers, inherited a 68-win club and guided them into the playoffs. And now he is working his magic when every move counts.
He slowly promoted sensational rookie Evan Carter from ninth in the lineup to fifth to third, and the 21-year-old has responded with a 1.236 OPS. In Game 2 of the ALDS, Bochy started DH Mitch Garver and batted him third, even though Garver hadn’t had an at-bat yet in the postseason. Garver hit a game-breaking grand slam and drove in five runs in an 11-8 win.
Then there was Monday, when starter Nate Eovaldi was in a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the fifth and the Rangers winning by three. The current postseason wisdom is to turn to the bullpen in rough spots in the middle innings. But Bochy stuck with Eovaldi, who has been superb in the playoffs, and Eovaldi picked up two strikeouts and a groundout to reward his manager’s trust. Eovaldi pitched the sixth, too.
“I can’t say enough about Boch. He’s got that old-school mentality, and at the same time he’s aware what we’re doing now,” Eovaldi said Monday. “For him to step away from the game and come back, and the way he’s been able to manage it, it’s been great for us.”
Everything has been great for the Rangers in the past two weeks.
And now they have a chance to tie – and maybe set – a record for most wins to start a postseason. After a day off, the Rangers host the Astros at Globe Life Field on Wednesday with ace veteran Max Scherzer on the mound.
Scherzer hasn’t pitched since Sept. 12 due to a back/shoulder muscle strain, but he said he’s ready to go.
The way things are rolling for Texas right now, they may as well choose a future Hall-of-Famer to pitch for a piece of postseason history.
Dan Connolly is an MLB Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.