ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — The reigning World Series champion Texas Rangers are undefeated this season when they have a .500 record.
That means they still haven’t had a losing record with Bruce Bochy as their manager. On the other hand, the Rangers haven’t gotten any real momentum going nearly one-third of the way into his second season with them.
Texas went into an off day Monday at 24-24, exactly .500 for the ninth time already this season. Every time in that situation so far, the Rangers have won their next game.
“I didn’t even think about that, and I don’t know if they know what our record is,” Bochy said about his players. “But it says a lot when you go through some tough times and you find a way to win the games that you need to win.”
When asked if he knew the team’s record, Bochy said not exactly, other than they were over .500.
That was before a 4-1 loss Sunday to the last-place Los Angeles Angels that wrapped up a 2-4 homestand when both wins kept Texas from slipping to a losing record.
“You just try and win each and every game. I think it’s just worked out that we’re winning those .500 games, to be honest,” said right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings in that finale against the Angels. “Baseball is kind of a weird game with stats and stuff, but that’s not kind of what we’re thinking.”
Texas plays nine of its next 11 games on the road, beginning Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game interleague series at Philadelphia (34-14), which has the best record in the majors.
“We don’t feel pressure, not this team with what we’ve been through over the last year,” Bochy said. “We’re not playing our best baseball right now, but, they’ve been resilient for over a year now, and they’ve shown it this year with all of that we’ve gone through.”
