The Rangers are back to .500, have won three in a row, are playing at home where they are a much better team, and have leapfrogged the Cleveland Guardians in the wild card race. 

The Rangers not only swept Cleveland, but they also dismantled them. On Friday, they walked off a win. On Saturday and Sunday, they shut them out: 10-0 then 5-0. 

All of a sudden, there’s hope again. A sweep will do that.

But Rangers fans have been on this endless roller coaster all season. With thirty games left in the season—and now without Marcus Semien and Evan Carter—the Rangers are going to have to somehow make up 1.5 games on Kansas City, while at the same time, make up 4.5 games on Seattle, or five games on New York, or 5.5 games on Boston.

And they are going to have to do all of this while playing fifteen of those thirty games on the road, where they have as much success as that flattened squirrel had against that eighteen-wheeler. 

But, for three games, the Rangers looked dominating in every aspect of the game. Starting pitching, bullpen, defense, offense, situational hitting. For three games they were what was advertised the entire season was going to be.

These highs always come with lows. That’s how roller coasters work. Except on a roller coaster, the thrill is when you’re speeding downhill fast. 

That’s the part of the ride the Rangers have been unable to avoid. 

*****