51-41 - Rangers close first half with sweep of A's, seven game streak

Well take that, last seven games of the first half of the 2011 baseball season.

Matt Harrison pitched perhaps his best game of the season. He was marvelous over 7 2/3 shut out innings. Adrian Beltre is worth every penny specifically because he took Trevor Cahill deep and slayed that dragon. And while the Rangers lost the opening series to the Marlins they ended up going 8-2 on this homestand thanks to sweeps of the Orioles and A's.

The Rangers are now a season's best 10 games over .500 with the longest winning streak of the season. If you're into comparisons to the 2010 season, and I know you are, the Rangers were 50-38 at the All-Star Break last season. This team looks way more like what we expected them to look like this season than they did a week ago.

Regardless of what happens over the last few innings in Anaheim, the Rangers will end the first half of the season in first place in the American League West.