The Texas Rangers, winners of their last eight series, now head to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. The Cardinals, who are just 6-5 in the month of June, cannot afford to give up any more ground in the NL Wild Card race. The Rangers are not giving up any games either, though. They are doing their best to run away with the AL West, but something has to give.
With Cole Hamels set to take the mound Friday, the Rangers have to feel confident about their chances in that game and the series. Cole Hamels, who has a 2.31 Earned Run Average (ERA) during the Rangers current 20-6 run, looks to take advantage of Cards’ starter Michael Wacha. Wacha is currently in the middle of one of the worst stretches in his career, sporting a 6.95 ERA over the same span that Hamels has been dialed in.
The Cardinals, who have a .246 batting average over the past week (per baseball-reference), are in desperate need of some wins right now. They are entering a six game stretch against the Rangers and Cubs, arguably the two best teams in baseball right now.
Unfortunately for them, the Rangers are playing out of their mind of late. It is a “near unstoppable force meets pretty movable object” situation and there is no reason to believe the Rangers will be slowing down.
The only thing the Cardinals have going for them is that Yu Darvish will miss this series on the DL, but the Rangers offense has been plenty capable of overcoming that issue all season. Do not be surprised if the Rangers roll through their weekend in St. Louis before returning home next week.
