The night of the home run also saw some great D. Delino DeShields slams into the wall after a spectacular running catch to rob the Athletics of a run in the second inning.

Chirinos blasted one in the fourth.

Profar in the sixth.

Choo in the seventh to tie the game.

Beltre in the eighth to take the lead.

Gallo in the eighth as well, to put Texas up three.

The Rangers hit a season-high five home runs. They got a rare quality start from Matt Moore. And they came from behind with two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth.

It’s the kind of game the Rangers used to have. Where no matter how far down they were, you knew they would come back.

It’s the opposite of what the Rangers were earlier in the season when, once they got down, they were done for the day.

All it takes is one hot hitter. They have that in Shin-Soo Choo. Over the last two weeks, he is hitting .350 with an OBP of .500.

That’s the Choo the Rangers signed five seasons ago. He’s shown that ability at times with the Rangers. Recall the second half of 2015 when his bat carried the Rangers to the division crown, with a line of .343/.455/1.016.

His OPS the past two weeks eclipses even his second half of 15 numbers: 1.175.

Of course, yesterday it helped that Matt Moore had his best start as a Rangers, which isn’t saying much but it is saying he kept them in the game which he usually cannot do, so the five home runs and seven runs the Rangers tallied were enough for a victory. In most Matt Moore starts, they are buried so far so early, that five home runs and seven runs wouldn’t make a dent in their deficit.

All those .190 hitters are now over .200, some even as lofty as .220. The offense isn’t juggernaut status yet. And the team isn’t going to overcome its 13.5 game gap behind first place Seattle, and the only thing the Rangers are going to be doing in October is cleaning out the leaves in their gutters, but at least the Rangers are playing fun, compelling baseball from time to time lately.

Power, late offense, good starting pitching, shut down bullpen, great defense.

The Rangers are now only eleven games under .500.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Daniel Mengden (6-4, 2.91) vs. Bartolo Colon (2-3, 4.21)
Game time: 7:05

How the Athletics hit against Colon.
How the Rangers hit against Mengden.