Rangers play NL tonight at 7:00.


The Rangers play the National League tonight.

Corey Seager, Marcus Semien, Jonah Heim, Adolis Garcia, and Josh Jung are all starting tonight’s All-Star game in Seattle.

That’s a testament to three things.

One, their talents and the remarkable seasons each player is having.

Two, how good the Rangers are, despite this recent slide into the break.

Three, and this one might be hard to believe, maybe the Rangers aren’t as anonymous on the national baseball stage as one might suspect. Or, was this all the doing of Rangers fans for stuffing the ballot box? If so, Rangers Nation is much stronger than imagined.

Marcus Semien leads off for the American League tonight. Semien has been slumping of late. After a blister May in which he hit .322 and was the spark plug in so many Rangers offensive outbursts, he cooled off considerable in June, batting .256, and just .167 in July. Maybe tonight will jumpstart him for the second half.

Corey Seager bats fourth. He is having a magic season that has been about as consistent and productive as anyone could have hoped. Right now, Seager is leading the American League in hitting, at .353, and is carrying the Rangers offense.

Adolis GarcĂ­a bats sixth. Garcia is leading the American League in RBIs, with 75 at the break. He is an machine at driving in runs and seems to come up with the dramatic home run when it’s really needed.

Josh Jung will bat eighth. Jung is having a storybook rookie year, not only putting up strong numbers at the plate but playing defense at an elite level as well.

Jonah Heim bats ninth. After starting out strong last season at the plate, Heim totally ran out of steam in the second half of the season. This season, he came out of the gate even stronger, hitting for power and for average.

Starters must play three innings. And if Nathan Eovaldi gets into the game in the first three innings, the Rangers will have six of nine players on the field.

Having five All-Star starters, and six total, is quite an accomplishment for the Rangers. It’s helped them remain in first place in the West from the beginning of the season. And it’s made Rangers baseball fun again. And watchable again (to those few who can actually watch it).

Tonight’s All-Star game is a Rangers celebration to be sure. A celebration in October would be much sweeter, though.

*****

7:00 on FOX