If we've learned one thing this year, it's that Ian Desmond gives zero you-know-whats.
If we've learned two things this year, it's that, and the fact that Desmond is going to be very hard to keep beyond this year as he's putting together one of the better retrenching years since the 2010 season in Boston that Adrian Beltre put in before coming to Texas.
Desmond blasted a two-run homer to dead center off Houston ace Dallas Keuchel in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie before the Rangers eventually won a 4-3 nail-biter to sew up their eighth straight win over Houston this year.
If you're keeping count, it was Desmond's third home run this year that came in the seventh inning or later and gave the Rangers a lead.
"I just tell myself when I get up there for every at-bat, 'You're prepared,'" he told MLB.com. "If you prepared for the situation, prepared for the at-bat, then the rest will take care of itself."
Desmond signed his one-year, $8 million deal with the Rangers back on Feb. 29, after he turned down a qualifying offer from the Nationals to strike a long-term deal that never came. Oh, and the former all-star shortstop came here to play left field — a position he'd never played — and did so well he quickly became the team's everyday center fielder.
As of April 18, he was batting just .109 with one RBI, but since then, he's batting .365 with eight homers, 36 RBIs and 36 runs scored.
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"He's got a lot to prove, really in his mind, which makes him a dangerous player," Banister said. "We're lucky to have him. He's come up with some huge home runs, big hits, up and down the game. There have been some special ones late in the ballgame."
