Rangers lose Cruz, Kinsler to injuries
With the Los Angeles Angels seemingly losing just once or twice a week lately, the AL West’s second-place Texas Rangers can’t afford to slump at all, which makes Monday’s 3-2 loss to Oakland doubly painful.
For one, the Rangers lost for the first time this season when leading after eight innings. They had won the previous 50, the best run in the American League.
In addition, slugger Nelson Cruz sprained his left ankle trying to field Oakland’s game-winning triple. He had to be helped off the field as the A’s celebrated, and he is listed as day-to-day. The ankle was swollen after the game and heavily taped, so look for him to miss possibly the rest of the Oakland series.
“I tried to block it because it hit the wall,”said Cruz, whose spikes got caught in some metal at the base of the wall. “When I went to get it, I couldn’t get up.”
Cruz leads the Rangers with 25 homers and is second in RBIs with 58. The guy who leads Texas in RBIs (and most other offensive categories) is All-Star second baseman Ian Kinsler, and he just landed on the disabled list.
Kinsler’s move was retroactive to July 29. He was suffering from a strained left hamstring that hadn’t improved over the weekend.
The Rangers were hoping to avoid placing Kinsler on the DL, but GM Jon Daniels didn’t want Kinsler to feel pressured to come back before being completely healed. He is eligible to return Aug. 13. Kinsler was hitting .157 in July.
It might be now or never for Texas. That game Monday was the start of a tough 11-day, 10-game road trip. After four games with the Athletics comes three against the division-leading Angels starting on Friday. They have an off-day next Monday before playing three against the Indians.
This is the longest road trip this season in terms of both days and games for the Rangers. They have won three of their last four road series. That will be difficult to maintain without Kinsler, the team’s best player.
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