To say this hasn’t been the season the Rangers expected is an understatement. Their record against their two biggest division rivals proves that.

Texas is 4-10 against Houston and 3-12 against Seattle. It’s no coincidence those are the two teams ahead of them in the West. Los Angeles is just a half-game behind the Texas, by the way.

Seattle had beaten Texas nine times in a row this year. In fact, the Mariners swept the Rangers four game in Arlington to cap off their fourteen-game winning streak.

It was a winning streak that catapulted them from languishing in fourth behind the Rangers to second place, burying the Rangers.

Then, right after that, they swept the Rangers three games in Seattle.

Seattle won Game 1 of this three-game series Friday night, and jumped out to a 3-0 lead early in Game 2, and it looked like they were going to keep their dominance again. 

In the blink of an eye, the momentum changed. The Rangers fourth was one of the more satisfying innings of the season. It was a glimpse into the promise of what this season was supposed to be.

After Corey Seager led off with an out, Adolis Garcia kick started the comeback with a double to left. Heim followed that up with a run-scoring double. Lowe hit a bloop single. Charlie Culberson singles in a second run. Ezequiel Duran singled in the third run. Then Bubba Thompson bunted in the fourth run. 

Four runs, no homers. Just a lot of small ball, which is a more fun brand of baseball because it’s a sustained rally. It’s paper cuts to the opposing team. 

The Rangers ended up scoring three more runs to win 7-4. The bullpen pitched 4.2 innings and gave up just one run. 

It wasn’t just snapping nine beatings in a row by the Mariners. It was knowing the Rangers were capable of playing the kind of game they were supposed to have played a lot more of but have been mostly unable to do.

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