The Texas Rangers still sit atop the AL West standings by two and a half games despite being outslugged by the Tigers in the first two games of their series in Arlington. Currently in the AL West, everybody is on a losing streak, with the Mariners having lost their last two games as well, the Angels dropping their last four contests and the Oakland A's having lost their last eight. The Rangers can thank U2 and their 360° Tour for a little bit of help on this one.
U2's tour just stopped in at the Overstock Colosseum last night in Oakland, and if you haven't seen their stage, well, it's something. Bono calls it their spaceship, but it's also been dubbed "the claw" by many U2 fans. Regardless of its name, it does a number on grass fields. And as such, U2 forced the A's to head out on 10 game road trip - where the A's are 0-5 thus far, and 13-20 overall on the road.
U2's next stop doesn't come until June 17 and 18 when they visit Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Like the A's, the Angels are going to go on quite the long roadtrip themselves to allow U2's crew time to construct the stage, and time for the Angels' grounds crew to rebuild the playing field. The Angels will be playing 12 games on the road, starting on June 13 before returning home on Monday, June 27.
Fortunately for Rangers fans, the 360° tour won't be visiting Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. The only other baseball stadium U2 are poised to hit this summer is Busch Stadium on July 17.