Winning games and losing pitchers.

Well, the Rangers have gotten hot and stayed that way in the past week and a half or so. They have won 10 of their last 11 games and are now tied with the A's for first place in the American League West.

Losing Nelson Cruz to a season-ending PED suspension has not even slowed the train, much less made it derail. Defying some pundits, who predicted a collapse, the team has been winning with contributions from all corners.

Elvis Andrus and Leonys Martin keep the feet flying with their base thefts. Ian Kinsler remains a threat both at the plate and on the base paths. Adrian Beltre, Mitch Moreland,  AJ Pierzynski, and the other vets continue to perform.

Additionally Jurickson Profar has been hitting well and drew a key walk last night to force in a run. Engle Beltre is taking advantage of his time up and short-time call-up Jerry Butler got in on the action last night with two doubles and a walk that set up Profar's RBI walk.

Great to see the team finally getting it going. The defense and pitching have been solid for most of the year and now that the offense seems to have gelled, it's looking like the team might have a shot at October.

General Manager Jon Daniels evidently thinks they do. He pulled off a deal yesterday for White Sox outfielder Alex Rios. Texas will send Leury Garcia and cash to Chicago in exchange. The Sox ended up taking a lot less for Rios than they were initially asking. Rios won't be a superstar but hopefully he'll provide some speed, defense, and a solid right-handed bat. He's slated to start for Texas tonight.

It's looking more and more like Daniels can see into the future. When he made the Matt Garza trade I was skeptical. Most pitchers coming over from the National League see a big dip in their performance and Matt Harrison and Colby Lewis were scheduled to come back in August. Well, Garza's been doing well. On Wednesday it was announced Colby Lewis will be having hip surgery to remove a bone spur. That ends his 2013 season without him ever placing foot on a Big League mound. Matt Harrison, shown here on card 203 of the 2012 Gypsy Queen set, may be on the verge of suffering a similar fate. Yesterday he was pulled early from a rehab start due to numbness in his left (pitching) hand. He's headed to Arlington to be evaluated by a doctor. That doesn't sound good to me. Good thing JD picked up Garza and rookie Martin Perez has been throwing well, the re-enforcements for the pitching staff look like they won't be arriving. Guess it goes to show you can never have enough arms.