Like their second baseman, the Rangers tripped and fell Sunday.

Talk about parity. There are six teams that are fighting for that second wild card slot. Five of those six have 71 wins: Kansas City, Texas, Baltimore, Seattle, and Tampa Bay. The Royals and Rangers have 71 losses. The Orioles and Mariners have 72, and the Rays have 73.

A win catapults you past five teams to the top of the hopefuls. A loss dropkicks you to the bottom of the five teams. That’s the perpetual treadmill the Rangers have been running in place on for the last six weeks. No reason to think it will change.

This has all the thrills of watching the seniors bowling circuit.

Maybe it’s not, in fact, parity. Maybe it’s just a whole lot of really bad teams. Teams with more defects than a Yugo.

Some days, some series, the Rangers look unstoppable. Then, with no rhyme or reason, they look like they have no business wearing major league uniforms.

Jeff Banister is saying all the right things. The reality is, a manager cannot publicly announce his team is out of it until the very end. But with all the bluster and vinegar and bravado he’s been spewing about how his team is poised for a run, and about how they are going to prove wrong all those non-believers, it’s hard to tell if that is just for the press, or if he actually believes it.

There had to come a time when even Charles Manson’s mom realized her kid wasn’t right.

The Rangers have twenty games left in this frustratingly average season. All they would have to do is win four more games than Minnesota the rest of the way out. That doesn’t seem that out of the question. Until you realize that that’s totally out of the question. They lack the rotation, the bullpen, and the offensive depth to win enough games the rest of the season.

But their manager still has hope. That and nine dollars will get him a beer at the Ballpark.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Ariel Miranda (8-6, 4.72) vs. Cole Hamels (9-3, 4.03)
Game time: 7:05

How the Mariners hit against Hamels.
How the Rangers hit against Miranda.