Rangers Reaction enjoys a rare day off in the Big Apple

Major league baseball players don’t get many days off during the season. Especially one on the road in New York City. So when the Rangers had a rare full day off in New York on Monday many of them tried to take advantage, despite a consistent drizzle.

Joey Gallo and Drew Robinson rented bikes and rode around Central Park. They even enjoyed annoying people with their bike bells. By the end of their extravaganza it was raining hard and they were soaked.

“It was fun. By the end of it it was pouring. We were trying to find a cab but no one would pick us up because we were standing there soaked,” Gallo said.

Cole Hamels and some friends from Philadelphia scored tickets to a taping of “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.” Hamels said only one group of people recognized him in line. Yes, even Cole Hamels had to stand in line like everyone else.

Austin Bibens-Dirkx and his wife, along with a host of other players including Shin-Soo Choo and his family, walked a couple of blocks from the team hotel to Broadway for a showing of “Wicked.”

Brett Nicholas was perhaps the most adventurous. He walked around all over lower Manhattan, checking out the World Trade Center memorial, the subway system and the Empire State Building.

Here’s the Rangers’ Reaction from a 5-4 loss Tuesday in Flushing Meadows:

1. Beltre’s cake — Adrian Beltre received a cake from famed sports barber Jordan Lopez, who is known for his haircuts for players at Citi Field. Lopez, like Beltre, is from the Dominican Republic. He surprised Beltre before the game with a Dominican-style cake.

2. Homerin’ Mets — The Mets hit three homers in the first two innings Tuesday night against A.J. Griffin. The most homers the Rangers have allowed in 2017 was five on June 6 against ... wait for it ... the Mets. That day Dillon Gee surrendered three and Matt Bush two at Globe Life Park. Griffin allowed a career-high four homers against the Tigers in Detroit on May 20. Entering Tuesday’s start he had allowed 12 homers in 45 innings. So, to sum up: the Mets have eight homers against the Rangers in three games.

3. Kela shelved again — Reliever Keone Kela returned to the disabled list (retro to Aug. 5) but whether he’ll be available Aug. 15 remains in doubt.

Kela has been beset by right shoulder soreness since June.

“Obviously, it’s not the news I wanted to hear. But I can’t let it discourage me,” Kela said. “This has been ongoing thing and the organization and Banny have done their best to help me get through this season the best I can and still put me in the proper situation so I can help the team excel.”

Kela said he’s unsure what the plan is the remainder of the season.

“We’re still seeing how we’re going to go about the situation,” he said. “I just know for the time being I’m down. I’m just going to take it step by step to get back.”

This story was originally published August 8, 2017 at 10:47 PM with the headline "Rangers Reaction enjoys a rare day off in the Big Apple."