Texas ‘having fun’ during win streak
Rangers haven’t had such a run of victories since 2011.
Jeff Banister says there are no secrets to the Texas Rangers’ nine-game winning streak. No special team meetings. No pep talks.
“I think that consistency in a coaching staff breeds consistency with the players,” the Rangers manager said a few hours before Texas com- pleted its undefeated eightgame homestand at Globe Life Park with an 8-4 win over the Philadelphia Phil- lies. “It’s taken a little while for some things to get going in the right direction. We’re still kind of maneuvering it as we go.
“We see every game that we’ve played has been a little bit different. Nothing has been the same from night to night. That’s kind of the beauty of this coaching staff and that group of players.”
But this type of winning streak hasn’t happened to the Rangers since July 2011, when they won 12 in a row and later played in the World Series.
Maybe some unusual superstitious behavior also deserves some credit?
“My day’s so chaotic, I wouldn’t know what I did yesterday, so no,” Banister said. “I know there are guys who do, but I choose not to buy into that kind of stuff.”
Less than two weeks ago, Texas was seven games under .500. It began a weekend series Friday night in Detroit at 22-20, a half-game back in the wild-card standings.
“We have good team,” said Martin Perez, Thursday’s win- ning pitcher, “and we can win any game that we want.”
The wins have come in a variety of ways.
There was a dominant 11-0 outing in San Diego to close out a nine-game road trip. The Rangers then came from behind with four-run ninth innings on back-to-back nights against the Padres and Athletics.
Then there were games like Thursday’s in which they struggled at the plate and fell behind early, only to have first baseman Ryan Rua drill a three-run homer.
“The comeback wins early in the homestand I believe gave these guys a little extra energy, some confidence,” Banister said. “And then there were some little things we did, and whether it was runners in motion, drawing walks, laying the ball on the ground, hit-and-runs, just getting back to the mindset of pass the baton, take a professional at-bat, be tough in the box.”
Banister said he believes “freebies” have played a critical role as well — a key walk or an opponent’s error to ignite big innings.
“Every day it’s somebody different,” catcher Robinson Chirinos said. “Can be the offense, can be the bullpen, can be the starting pitcher. I think these last nine games, we’ve been putting everything together.”
Right fielder Nomar Mazara added: “We didn’t start the year how we wanted. And to get a streak like this is important to keep the guys moving. We’re having fun right now. We’re doing things the right way. We keep working hard. It’s so much fun now to go out there and play baseball.” he’s tion ibly media. Florida