The long national nightmare is over. The Rangers snapped their four-game losing streak to beat the Mike Trouts.

Lance Lynn is now tied for the major league lead in wins with eleven. 

He is the new Colby Lewis, an under-the-radar battler who guts it out and goes deep into every start.

He has now gone six innings or more in thirteen straight starts. He is 9-2 in that span with two no decisions. He’s given up more than three earned runs only twice, winning both games. That is the true sign of a bulldog competitor.

He has had only two bad starts out his eighteen total this year, giving up seven earned in one start and eight in another. The Rangers won one of those games.

His ERA has steadily declined during this twelve games of domination. From 6.51 to 3.91.

Lynn had been dominating lefty for the Cardinals until Tommy John surgery took him out for the 2016 season. 

That Lance Lynn is back. Along with Mike Minor, the Rangers really have two number-ones in their rotation. This is what they were hoping for a couple years ago with Darvish and Hamels. That never materialized.

While it’s doubtful the Rangers make a serious run at a wild card, they would be foolish to deal either one of these aces.

Lynn and Minor are the kind of guys you build a rotation around. 

*****

TODAY’S GAME:

Adrian Sampson (6-5, 4.16) vs. Martin Perez (7-3, 4.15)

Game time: 7:10