Adrian Beltre looked on his way to having the worst year of his career for much of the 2015 season, then the calendar hit mid-August and Beltre reverted back to his 2011 and 2012 days, putting the Rangers on his back along with Prince Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo with an insane stretch of baseball from the veteran.
Beltre finished the year hitting .287, which was nearly 20 points higher than his batting average on Aug. 15, and from that day through Sunday, his numbers rivaled anyone's in recent memory as far as offensive production down the stretch in a pennant chase.
Beltre hit .332 over those final 48 games with a .386 on-base percentage and a .947 OPS. He had 14 doubles and nine homers and drove in an incredible 53 runs over those final 48 games, a number boosted by the three RBIs he had on Sunday, including his big go-ahead home run. It was Beltre's third game of the four-game set against the Angels with three RBIs.
With that production, you almost wish the Rangers could open the postseason on Monday, but Beltre and lots of other folks in the Rangers clubhouse need a few days to recharge, and the Rangers hope Beltre and his friends can pick up where they left off come Thursday in Toronto.
