42-44

Wandy Rodriguez: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K

The Texas offense registered only 6 hits on Friday night, but 4 went for extra-bases. Delino DeShields walked and scored on a Prince Fielder sac fly to open the scoring in the bottom of the first, and Texas made it 2-0 in the 3rd when Rougned Odor tripled and scored on a Carlos Corporon groundout. 

In the bottom of the 4th, Fielder (14) and Adrian Beltre (7) hit back-to-back HRs, propelling the Rangers to a 4-0 lead that eventually stuck. 

Tanner Scheppers, who is still insisted upon in high-leverage moments in spite of having a truly awful season (22 hits and 17 walks in 28.2 IP in 2015), made things interesting in the 8th by surrendering two runs on a hit and two free passes. His ERA on the year is a pedestrian 4.40 -- which doesn't seem that bad, probably because I'm still conditioned by passable steroid-era earned run averages -- but nothing about Scheppers is pretty. Relief pitching isn't valuable compared to every other role on the diamond, so I've already spent too much time on one guy, but there doesn't seem to be much future for Tanner in Arlington. 

After ending its 5-game slide, the Rangers are only 4 games back in the loss column of the first place Astros (49-40).