Rangers Back in Action Today Plus MVP Miller Offered Extension

The second half of baseball begins this afternoon for the Texas Rangers when they travel to the windy city to take on the Chicago Cubs.  Despite a horrid performance down the stretch of the first half the Rangers still have the best record in the American League at 54-36 and lead the AL West by 5.5 games over the Astros.  Martin Perez takes to the mound today.  Meanwhile, Yu Darvish is scheduled to pitch game two of the series on Saturday.  First pitch this afternoon [on kplt 1490am and 96.3fm] is scheduled for 1:20pm. It’s also reported that Texas Ranger trade target, Drew Pomeranz formerly of the San Diego Padres, has been dealt to the Boston Red Sox.

After day one of The Open championship at Royal Troon, lefty Phil Mickelson leads the pack at -8 under par, shooting a 63 on the day.  Mickelson missed a 62 by a lip of the cup on a missed birdie put on the 18th hole.  Last years Open Champion, Zach Johnson shot a 67 in the opening round.  Rory McIlroy shoots 69. While a pair of other favorites, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson finished even par on the day.

Dallas area native and Super Bowl MVP, Von Miller, has been offered a contract extension from the Denver Broncos worth $114.5 million over six years, including $70 million guaranteed.  The outside linebacker’s sack and forced fumble helped lead the Broncos past the Carolina Panthers, allowing quarterback Peyton Manning to ride off into the sunset.  Contract negotiations between Miller’s agent and the Broncos front office are expected to resume today.

The countdown to training camp in Oxnard continues.  The Dallas Cowboys are 13 days away from arriving in sunny California to prepare for the 2016 season.