Texas Rangers Are Quietly Steamrolling Through the American League West

Ageless Adrian Beltre drove in three runs and lefthander Cole Hamels picked up his ninth victory against only one loss as the Texas Rangers beat the Yankees 7-1 in New York on June 28th. Without a lot of fanfare—at least not yet–the Rangers have cruised to the best record in the American League at 51-27 (through games of June 28th) and have a 10 game lead over the second place Houston Astros.

Beltre hit his 11th home run of the season. The 37 year old is hitting .285 with 51 RBIs, tied for the club lead with Ian Desmond. Center fielder Desmond leads or is tied for the team lead in homers (14), stolen bases (13), batting average (.326) ,slugging percentage (.533), on base percentage (.533), and OPS (.909). Desmond was signed as a free agent in the off season after seven years with the Washington Nationals. He’s been a great pickup, as has Hamels. Cole was traded to Texas by the Philadelphia Phillies on July 31st of last season, and has thrived; he’s 16-2 with a 3.07 ERA since arriving in the Lone Star State.