There’s no way of knowing, of course, but it seemed that the Rangers fired Chris Woodward when they did in order to coincide with the beginning of a four-game series against Oakland. That would give Tony Beasley the best chance to hit the ground running and feel the glow of early success.

That lasted one day. His team beat Oakland in Game 1, then lost in Games 2 and 3, only to gain a split in Game 4.

Going 2-2 against the Oakland Athletics was, quite frankly, not a very inspiring way for Beasley to kick off his managerial career. Of course, it’s a small sample size. And, of course, he had the same flawed roster the previous guy had. But it was against Oakland. The worst team in the American League.

His next four are against a legitimate contending team in the Minnesota Twins. They are at the level the Rangers want to get to, fighting for a playoff spot. That’s something the Rangers haven’t done in six seasons.

Last night, Texas fell back into familiar pattern. They lost to the Twins by one run. Generating no offence. The Rangers managed one run. They threatened only two times in the game.

Outwardly, Beasley isn’t doing anything Woodward didn’t do. Same lineup. No small ball. No sacrificing to move guys over in situations. Which leads to few runs being scored. Last night, it was one run.

Time will tell whether Beasley brings anything tangible or successful to this team. He certainly has the time to prove himself, and the attention of his front office to demonstrate what he can do.

But it might not be enough any way. Back in 2014 when the Rangers were heading for their worst season ever, when Ron Washington self-destructed and then resigned, the team was a major-league worst 53-87. He was replaced by Tim Bogar. The team, surprisingly, went 14-8. Bogar didn’t to anything magical. He didn’t make any major tweaks to the lineup. He didn’t bench players who had been starting and start players who had been benched. But somehow it clicked and he had success. It might have been a fluke. But it didn’t seem to matter. The Rangers didn’t hire him. Instead, they hired Jeff Banister.

It will be interesting to see what Beasley does to distinguish himself from Woodward or to get something out of this team that Woodward wasn’t able to get. That’s how he will be evaluated. Going 2-2 against Oakland was nothing to get excited about.

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