Interleague play kicks off again today in an all-Texas way, with the Yankees visiting the Houston Astros and the Mets hosting the Texas Rangers. As disappointingly and strangely as things have gone for the Mets this year, with the latest development being Billy Wagner’s three-game total of 2.1 innings, six runs, and a trio of blown saves, their frustration cannot match the primal strain of thwarted ambition that annually distinguishes the Rangers.

The Rangers are the only American League team hitting like it’s still 2007, scoring an average of nearly six runs a game. With the exception of first base, where the club has had trouble finding a regular worthy of replacing last year’s trade bait, Mark Teixeira, the lineup has very few weak spots. Center fielder Josh Hamilton, batting .314 AVG/.359 OBP/.583 SLG and leading the league with 71 RBI, is a potential MVP candidate, as is Milton Bradley, who is batting .333/.454/.629, giving him the best overall offensive numbers in the Junior Circuit by a large margin.

Unfortunately, the Rangers also pitching like it’s 2007, allowing nearly six runs a game, which is to say that every team that hits against them turns into last year’s Yankees. If they keep scoring and allowing runs at their current rates, the Rangers will become one of the few teams in baseball history not named the Rockies to both score and allow more than 900 runs in the same season. Part of the problem is that Rangers starting pitchers aren’t very good and their bullpen is worse; the other part of the problem is that they play in a good hitters’ park. Gloves also loom large in the Rangers’ run prevention crisis as they have fielded the worst defensive unit in the majors this year. Hamilton is stretched in center field. Frank Catalanotto is now incapable of running down balls in left. Young catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, the prize of the Teixeira deal, has stalled despite promising good batting numbers because in just 20 games behind the plate he has allowed 14 passed balls or wild pitches (the distinction between the two is often arbitrary), made three errors, and has thrown out just two of 21 runners attempting to steal.

This is not an unusual place for the Rangers to be in. Throughout the team’s relatively brief history, the Rangers have sometimes had terrific offense, as in this season, and sometimes had strong pitching, as they did in the late 1970s, when their starting rotation was graced by greats and near-greats such as Ferguson Jenkins, Gaylord Perry, Bert Blyleven, Dock Ellis, Jon Matlack, and Doyle Alexander. Rarely have they had both at once.

Just as the Mets once were legendary for not being able to find a steady third baseman, a 25-year curse broken by Howard Johnson (and its memory buried for good by David Wright), the Rangers have never been able to develop pitching internally. The half-dozen pitchers named above all came from outside the organization, as did other Rangers greats such as Nolan Ryan and Charlie Hough. The two best pitchers brought up within the organization were Kenny Rogers, a lucky find in the 39th round of the 1982 draft — you can count the number of 39th-round picks who have gone on to lengthy major league careers, if any, on one finger — and Kevin Brown, who had to leave to blossom into dominance. They were in the rotation together for only two seasons.

Naming a third homegrown Texas starter is difficult; one quickly enters coulda/woulda territory with pitchers such as Bobby Witt, who had immense natural talent but never fully harnessed it. It is hard to pinpoint the reason for this, beyond flip suggestions like something in the water. The Rangers have had many changes of ownership during the years, more managers, and still more pitching coaches. Their shortfall in pitching persists regardless of who is holding the reins. In the recent amateur draft, the Rangers selected six pitchers in their first ten picks. Forget the scouting reports, their fastballs, or anything you may hear about devastating sliders or poise on the mound: They’re Rangers, therefore they’re not coming.

In the last couple of seasons, the Rangers had a heralded trio of pitching prospects known as DVD. The “V” was Edinson Volquez. He was traded to the Reds for Hamilton. As a Ranger, he went 3-11 with a 7.20 ERA in 20 games and developed a bad reputation. Though now pitching on a last-place team in a tiny park, he is 9-2 with a league-leading 1.56 ERA. He also leads the National League in strikeouts. The first “D,” John Danks, has a 3.13 ERA for the White Sox, the AL’s leading pitching staff.

The Rangers held on to the remaining “D.” It stands for Thomas Diamond, their 2004 first-round pick, but it really ought to signify “Damaged”; the pitcher has been on the disabled list for more than a year, recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s currently on rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Frisco, where he has a 6.88 ERA.

The Mets are confused. The Rangers are cursed.

Mr. Goldman writes the Pinstriped Bible for yesnetwork.comand is the author of “Forging Genius,” a biography of Casey Stengel.