Alex Rios cycles against the Astros, Rangers 1 game out of Wild Card

Yesterday the Houston Astros were defeated by the Texas Rangers, and it wasn’t pretty: 12-0 at home, in front of (supposedly) 33,743 fans.

The successful Texas baseball team featured deadline-pickup Alex Rios hitting for the cycle, going 4 for 4 with a double, triple, and homer in addition to four RBIs and three runs scored. This was Rios’ first career cycle, and the third of the 2013 season (Mike Trout and Brandon Barnes hit the others). Rios, who carried a “Me First” tag in Toronto and Chicago, diverted the attention from his ridiculous array of skills to his team’s battle for the playoffs, per the Dallas Star-Telegram:

"“We can’t focus on the big picture,” Rios said. “It’s no secret we need to win, but it’s still there. We haven’t changed our attitude. The most important thing is that we won tonight, (and)That’s the attitude we’re going to take. This is what we have to do to finish the season.”"

The Rangers are now a staggering 15-2 against their state-mates, and are only 1 game back of the Wild Card, trailing the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cleveland Indians.

After the recent revelation that the Astros drew a 0.00 Nielsen rating on Sunday in a 9-2 thumping at the hands of the Indians, one can only assume the Astros are already looking forward to both next season and a delightful brunch this Sunday.