Oh yeah, you still need a bullpen. With all the agony over the bats going silent, you forget that the bullpen is starting to show cracks. 

Just as the offense is finally starting to heat up, the bullpen melted down. Tyler Mahle was allowed to go only five innings, leaving the game with a razor-thin one-run lead of 3-2.

The bullpen proceeded to cough up four runs. 

This is the pattern of .500 teams. Get great starting pitching, but no offense. Get great offense, but no starting pitching. Get sufficient offense, get insufficient relief.

Had the Rangers defense not have made a couple of amazing plays, it would have been worse. 

But, at least the Rangers found their home run stroke, with both Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung—two guys badly in need of finding their strokes—knocking balls over the wall. And, at least Joc Pederson is finally starting to hit, with two games in a row with multiple hits. 

Now, if they can just get all aspects of the team working long-term, this will be a good team. 

*****