Even with their slumping bats, the Rangers continue to hang on to first place in the American League West by 4 1/2 games over the Mariners and Angels and you can give the pitching and defense the credit for that.

The Rangers starting pitchers have been consistently pitching deep into games, keeping the score down and that has had a very positive effect on the defense.

According to John Dewan, co-publisher of ACTA Sports, the Rangers are one of the best defensive clubs in Major League baseball and also has one of the top fielders in the game.

Dewan notes in his Stat of the Week column that Ian Kinsler has already saved 12 runs through 57 games at second base, a drastic change from his defense the last three seasons.


(Used with permission from John Dewan's Stat of the Week™, www.statoftheweek.com.)

Kinsler was one of three Rangers who made terrific defensive plays in a 1-0 win over the Blue Jays last night.

One of the interesting notes Dewan had in an article last month, how much the Rangers have benefited from replacing Michael Young with Elvis Andrus at shortstop.   Young cost the Rangers 24 runs playing short last year and has cost the team 10 runs at third base so far.  As for Elvis, he's saved six runs at short with his solid defense this year.

Inter league play returns tonight at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with the Dodgers coming to town for a three game weekend series.

We'll have the highlights tonight on The 33 News at 9:00pm

It took 10 innings but The Rangers win their second game in the row by defeating The Astros, 5 to 4. With the win, Texas maintains a two game lead over The Angels in the A.L. West. David Murphy, a Houston native, singled home Ian Kinsler for the game winning run. The Rangers conclude their series with The Astros Thursday night at 7:05 pm.