Maybe the Rangers aren’t at the same level as the Twins. Or maybe this is just a blip in the radar.

Maybe the Rangers aren’t among the elite teams in the American League after all. Or maybe they are just limping into the All-Star break waiting for Hunter Pence to help them run off ten in a row when they get back.

Maybe reality is settling in and this team’s rotation is finding its water level . Or maybe—well, this team’s rotation was never good so forget any positives here. 

Maybe the Rangers are just going through a temporary lull and they will surge in the second half. Or maybe this team is one of those who gets hot after the break and they go on to win a wild card. 

There are a lot of maybes. Then again, losing six of seven tends to bring out the maybes.

But here the Rangers are. Five games over .500 with a team that has two good starters and three that turn the staunchest atheists into avid prayers. A team with one-third of its lineup worthless on a day-to-day basis. A team with a bullpen that is as reliable as a brother-in-law on moving day.

This is not a top-tier team by any stretch of the imagination. But they did get themselves to ten games over .500. And that is no accident.

Maybe, just maybe, this team finds its mojo again in the second half.

Or maybe reality sets in.

*****

TODAY’S GAME:

Jose Leclerc (1-2, 4.62) vs. Kyle Pineda (8-4, 4.13)

Game time: 1:10