That’s four starts now for A.J. Alexy. And three solid starts. It helps, of course, that his three wins as a starter have come off bad teams. The Rockies once and the Angels twice. And never mind his two bad outings have come against good teams. The Astros and the Yankees. That’s the learning curve for young pitchers.

The point is, Alexy is 3-1 and gaining confidence with every start. Last night, in five innings of work, he surrendered three hits, two walks, a home run and two runs allowed.

He has definitely forced his way into rotation consideration for next year. And that’s a wonderful thing. Because every arm the Rangers have that they can rely on in the rotation means one less arm they have to go out and sign. They haven’t been successful doing that.

Here’s hoping Alexy is just the first of a wave of young, effective starters the Rangers can run out there.

Rangers fans have seen too many broken down arms the past five years. It’s refreshing to see one with such promise.

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TODAY’S GAME: