The Texas Rangers are set to begin a six-game homestand tonight against the Los Angeles Angels in a battle for first place in the American League West division.
The Rangers will open this homestand by celebrating MLB legend Jackie Robinson, and all 30 MLB teams will honor the first Black player in modern Major League Baseball history.
According to a news release sent to The Dallas Express, Texas will offer all fans who purchase a ticket through this promotion a #42 baseball hat to honor Robinson. Every MLB team is expected to honor him in some way during the games throughout the day.
This series against the Angels will be meaningful for both teams in the early season standings, with the two teams currently leading the race for first place in the division.
Although just 16 games into the season, the Rangers currently have a record of 9-7 and trail the Angels by only 0.5 games in the standings, meaning a series win would move Texas into first place.
Following the series against the Angels, the Rangers will host the reigning World Series Champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, in a three-game series beginning on Friday.
This series will be incredibly important for the Rangers, as it could provide an early indication of how close the team is to competing. Los Angeles is widely expected to repeat as champions this season.
Texas has put together a solid season through the first five series of the year, though the team struggled in its most recent series against the Seattle Mariners.
The Rangers will look to bounce back after losing all three games to the Mariners, a theme that has become common over recent seasons.
Texas finished just 3-10 against the Mariners last season and are now 0-3 to begin this season.
Rangers Manager Bruce Bochy said he is unsure why the team continues to struggle against Seattle, adding that Seattle has “a really good pitching staff. And you have to do some little things to win when you’re going against a good pitching staff, and we’re not doing those things,” per MLB.com.