Yesterday I surmised that the Rangers' offense would suddenly improve with the returns of sluggers Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz. But not me -- nor even Texas -- thought it would happen that fast. Or that far.
Fresh off the disabled list, Hamilton homered in his first at-bat and Cruz added a dinger later as the Rangers and Alexi Ogando cruised past the Chicago White Sox, 4-0. It will mostly get lost amidst Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs' rally, but all the sudden the Rangers are in line for a pretty good run of baseball.
With both of their biggest hitters back in the lineup and Julio Borbon scheduled to come off the DL this weekend, the offense should be back to full-speed just after Memorial Day. Closer Neftali Feliz seems to have shaken his quick, two-game funk and starting pitchers C.J. Wilson, Colby Lewis, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Ogando -- who went the distance last night -- all have pristine performances in their recent past.
And with two more games against the sub-.500 White Sox and then a three-game home series vs. a Royals team that they swept earlier this month, the Rangers' schedule is also set up for some serious momentum heading into June.
Of course, at some point Ron Washington has to find reliable pitching answers in the 7th and 8th innings. But, as they say in the Twitterverse, the Rangers are significantly trending.
