Mike Napoli’s twenty-fifth home run of the season gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead they would not be able to hang on to.

Out of 121 games the Rangers have played so far this year, they’ve been above .500 just ten days. And not at all since beating Cleveland on June 27 to go 39-38.

For the past 44 games, they have been unsuccessfully pushing that rock up a hill. They failed again last night against the barely major league Chicago White Sox.

The White Sox decided to throw up the white flag, get rid of pretty much everyone worth anything, and start over.

In the process, they acquired some major minor league prospects. Who are now being given a chance to play in with the big boys. And they have played the Rangers well the first two games. Losing a scrappy 9-8 game Thursday and winning with an unlikely inside-the-park home run Friday. This overachieving Triple-A team should be pretty good with a little experience. Maybe sooner than anyone expected.

The Rangers, on the other hand, just can’t seem to get over the hump from so-so to pretty good. They are stuck in neutral. Spinning their tires in the mud of mediocrity.

So, after last night’s 4-3 loss, thanks the familiar culprit of failing in the clutch, they are now under .500 again with two more games against the worst team in the American League. Today is a battle of two in the long line of disappoiningt pitchers this Rangers regime has produced in Derek Holland and Martin Perez. It’s the clash of the titans. Only the opposite.

It’s time to see what this team really is. And if it’s what it claims to be.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Derek Holland (6-12, 5.68) vs. Martin Perez (7-9, 5.08)
Game time: 7:05

How the White Sox hit against Perez.
How the Rangers hit against Holland.