Tearing it Up
"GABE" RUTH ... With Rusty Greer unavailable to start due to plantar fascitis, Gabe Kapler has continued to pick up the team with his torrid post-All-Star Break streak. In the 29 games since his 28-game hitting streak ended, Kapler is hitting .336, and has 47 RBI in his last 57 games, including 13 RBI in the just-concluded four-game set with Kansas City. Kapler can run better than he has shown this year, though he still is tied for the team lead in SB with eight, and could be an attractive .300/25/100/25 prospect for next year. Remember that in deep keeper leagues.

Slumping
OLIVER'S PLACE ... As the season winds down, it’s time to recognize one particular Ranger for his year-long (in)consistency by renaming this "Slumping" section in honor of Darren Oliver. The Rangers' own six million dollar man has just two wins in 19 starts this year; no other major league pitcher has fewer wins with as many starts. His ERA remains a hefty 7.24 in more than 100 IP, and yet Johnny Oates claims he is "pleased" with Oliver’s progress, and the lefty will start Friday against Anaheim. Let's hope the Rangers don't repeat the Mark Clark error and drop Oliver before Spring Training instead.

At the Plate
RICKY, DON'T LOSE THOSE NUMBERS ... As Jamey Newberg points out in his consistently excellent Texas Rangers Newberg Minor League Report, Ricky Ledee is really having a nice year for a guy who's been traded twice and moved down in the standings each time. Though Ledee is hitting just .236 (.230 as a Ranger), he has 29 RBI in his last 38 games, which projects to nearly 125 over a full season ... Raffy Palmeiro, who is sitting on 398 career homers, is considering benching himself during the upcoming series at Minnesota to give him a better chance of hitting dinger #400 at The Ballpark.

Probable Starters Sept. 18, R. Helling @ MIN Sept. 19, R. Glynn @ MIN Sept. 20, D. Davis @ MIN Sept. 22, D. Oliver vs. ANA Sept. 23, K. Rogers vs. ANA

From the Rubber
BS (AS IN BLOWN SAVES) ... Little Ricky Helling finally managed to win his 15th game of the year in the front end of a twinbill Tuesday; Kenny Rogers won the back end and came back Sunday to even his record at 13-13. The two are now tied for most career wins at the Ballpark with 28. Brian Sikorski continues to show that he should have retired after shutting out the Yankees for seven innings in his debut Aug. 16; he's now 1-3, 5.74. And though John Wetteland has managed to cobble together another 30-save season, the staff as a whole is just 37-for-62 in save opportunities. That's an awful 59.6%.

On the Mend
CATCHING ON ... Sturdy backup-turned-starting C Bill Haselman will undergo arthroscopic surgery on Monday to repair a partial tear of his right rotator cuff and will miss the final two weeks of the season. Haselman finished the year at .275/6/26 in 196 AB. He ended up starting 54 games, or exactly one-third of the season. The remaining starts will go to B.J. Waszgis (.250/0/3) and Randy Knorr, who belted his 20th career home run Sunday, in just his tenth major league season ... Greer probably won’t play before Tuesday in Minnesota, and only then in what Oates termed a "best-case scenario."