Rangers and September...they meet again!!!

So we are finally in the final month of baseball's regular season and it's a very familiar sight if you are a Texas Rangers fan. It's September 4th and the Rangers have a 1 game lead over the Oakland A's for first place in the AL West. At this time last season, the Rangers sat 4 games up on Oakland for the division and we all know how that turned out.

So what do the Texas Rangers need to do in order to avoid a horrific collapse like last season? Well their pitching needs to keep going the way it has been. The combo of Yu Darvish (despite his recent struggles...if you can call them struggles), Matt Garza, Derek Holland, and rookie Martin Perez have been outstanding. These guys are going late into the game, keeping the bullpen rested, and doing what they need to do in order to help this ball club win. The bullpen needs to also keep doing what they are doing. Guys like Tanner Scheppars, Robbie Ross, Neal Cotts, Jason Frasor, even Ross Wolf are getting the job done when called upon. Then you got Joe Nathan who has been and I believe will continue to be lights out to close out ball games.

What worries me some is the offense. They are very capable of getting the job done, as last night's 5-1 win over All-Star and known Ranger killer Bartolo Colon proved. But they gotta do it on a more consistent basis. Adrian Beltre can't do it alone. He needs guys like Ian Kinsler, Alex Rios, A.J Peirzynski, and Mitch Moreland to help shoulder some of the offensive burden. If this line up can step up, not worry so much about hitting home runs (which they have done a very good job of so far this year), and just get on base then this team will not only win the AL West, but will go far in the playoffs.

I don't believe the Rangers will fold like last season. Last season's team seemed to be very cocky going into September and it blew up in their faces. This year's squad seems determined to not let history repeat itself. They look focused and ready to knock off the A's for the division crown and go back to the World Series. So let's do this. It's playoff time in Texas. Let's go after that World Series ring and get the job done this year. LET'S GO RANGERS (clap, clap, clap clap clap). LET'S GO RANGERS (clap, clap, clap clap clap)

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