And, if they blink, it will be gone. 

That is why it is crucial the Rangers make the most of a stretch that began over the weekend against Detroit and ends with the conclusion of a four-game series with Seattle on July 27. Consider Tuesday a strong first step in that direction. In the midst of a stretch in which they are playing 16 of 19 at home, the Rangers’ ensemble offense strung together a five-run eighth inning to beat a broken-down Los Angeles Angels team 8-3. 

It pushed the Rangers over .500 for the season and at home. Being barely over .500 for the season might get you into the playoffs, but being barely over .500 at home is more likely to knock you out.  

“We have to win at home; have to,” manager Skip Schumaker said after the win. “And if we want to make a run to get into the playoffs, it’s really important to win in this stretch of home games. That’s what playoff teams do. Home cooking is real. And I think we did late in the game was really important.” 

The Rangers are now 21-20 at home and the only road games they play in the first four weeks of August are a weekend set at Atlanta right after the All-Star break. The Rangers should be rested and ready to make a run.  

Especially, if they get the kind of key contributions they got Tuesday from guys who were in the minors or with other clubs at the beginning of the season. Currently they reside in the bottom half of the Rangers lineup. The bottom four spots in the Rangers’ lineup produced seven of the team’s RBIs and both of its homers. And of the group that did that, none were on the Rangers’ opening day roster. 

— Justin Foscue, pinch-hitting for No. 6 hitter Evan Carter, led off the seventh with a game-tying homer off lefty reliever Tyler Saucedo. Foscue has thrived being deployed against lefties this season, hitting .356 with a 1.186 OPS. For all the talk of Carter’s struggles against lefties, Foscue gives the Rangers’ a big edge against them in Carter’s spot late in games. But Foscuse also had a run-scoring single against a righty in the eighth. 

“Every time I go up there and do something for the team, it feels better and better each time,” Foscue said. “Right now, I’m pretty comfortable in my role. I know most of the time it’s going to be against a lefty, and I take pride in that.”  

— Alejandro Osuna walked behind Carter in the second, and both scored on No. 9 hitter Nikki Lopez’s single. Osuna also hit his first homer of the season, snapping a 165-at-bat drought, to cap the eighth inning, allowing the Rangers to go to Tyler Alexander for the ninth and give All-Star Jacob Latz another day of rest. 

— Lopez, who began the season with the Chicago Cubs, raised his batting average as Ranger to .324 with his second-inning single and a sacrifice bunt in his two plate appearances before being lifted for a pinch hitter. 

“Nikki Lopez, again, [and Elias Diaz, who batted eighth] these two guys, ever since they came on, have really, really saved us. They just keep providing offense and quality defense. Eighth inning was just one of those innings that guys were not going to strike out and do anything they could put in play, but I think the story of the game was the bottom of the lineup again, getting it back to the top and providing a ton of offense.”  

And, most importantly, a win at home. The Rangers need a lot more of that formula this month.