Rangers Clinch First Winning Month in Nearly Three Years

Texas is guaranteed a winning record in May after Friday's victory at Oakland.

Matthew Postins | May 28, 2022

The Texas Rangers’ 8-5 win over the Oakland Athletics on Friday night wasn’t just another sign that the Rangers are digging out of their April hole. The victory clinched the team’s first winning month in nearly three years.

The Rangers are now 14-9 in May, and with four games remaining in the month, the worst the Rangers could finish would be 14-13. That would only happen if they lost their four remaining games.

Texas has been one of the best teams in the Majors since April 30. The Rangers’ record in May is the fifth-best in the Majors entering Saturday.

Chris Woodward

Chris Woodward

Adolis Garcia and Chris Woodward

The Rangers started the season 7-14 in April.

The last time the Rangers had a winning month was June of 2019, which was manager Chris Woodward’s first season at the helm. The Rangers clinched that winning month with a six-game winning streak from June 22-28, and the Rangers entered July with a 46-38 record, 6 1/2 games back in second place in the American League West.

But the Rangers quickly fell apart with an 8-16 July. With players like Joey Gallo, Elvis Andrus, Nomar Mazara and Shin Soo-Choo, the Rangers ended the season with a 78-84 record. The Rangers went 13-16 in August and 11-14 in September.

Martin Perez — Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Martín Pérez

Kole Calhoun

Brett Martin and Jonah Heim

The COVID-19 pandemic shortened the 2020 season, as the Rangers went 22-38. Texas went 2-4 in July, and then had identical 10-17 records in August and September.

In 2021, the Rangers finished 60-102. The Rangers went 11-16, in April, 11-17 in May, 9-16 in June, 6-18 in July, 10-18 in August, 12-15 in September and 1-2 in October.

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Published May 28, 2022

MATTHEW POSTINS

Matthew Postins is an award-winning sports journalist who covers the Texas Rangers for Fan Nation/SI and also writes about the Houston Astros, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. He also covers the Big 12 for HeartlandCollegeSports.com.