MINNEAPOLIS -- Rangers manager Chris Woodward met with his team prior to Sunday’s first-half finale against the Twins and had a specific message for them about the All-Star break.

“Be careful,” Woodward said. “Make sure the break is a break. I want everybody to relax and enjoy themselves, but at the same time, we don’t need to get over the break or recover from the break after the break. I played with a guy who had to go on the [injured list] after the break because he had a severe sunburn. He laid out on a boat for three straight days.

“Be smart about this. We have a chance to do some special things in the second half, but if we have to recover from the break for a week, we are not going to be in a good spot, especially since we are playing a pretty good team.”

The Rangers open the second half against the Astros at 7:05 p.m. CT on Thursday at Globe Life Park in Arlington. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN and it will be the only one played that day. All other teams get four days off for the All-Star break, while the Rangers and the Astros only get three.

The Rangers will go into the second half with a winning record and a shot at an AL Wild Card spot. They play seven of nine games after the break against the Astros, a stretch that could determine how legitimate that shot really is for a team that lost 95 games last year.

The Rangers are in a much better position than many expected at the beginning of the season. But Woodward stressed there is more work to do.

“Record-wise, everybody is excited and we are in a good spot,” Woodward said. “If you dig deep deeper in a lot of areas like our growth, the things we set out to do, I am really proud of our guys. They came out and played hard. They are committed to a number of ideas they weren’t used to in the past.

“Raising our standards and expectations, I’m proud of that. Postseason, World Series -- whether that is obtainable is up to us, I think our guys believe that can happen. But my demand is we continue to learn and continue to grow and continue to believe we can be champions. But we have to elevate a lot of levels of our game. There is still work to do.”

Payano optioned

The Rangers optioned right-hander Pedro Payano to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday to make room for left-hander Joe Palumbo. Payano made his Major League debut on Saturday and threw a scoreless inning in the Rangers' 7-4 loss to the Twins.

Palumbo was called up so that the Rangers could give Mike Minor a break. Palumbo is expected to go back to Nashville, and Texas will add another reliever on Thursday.

Payano, right-hander Peter Fairbanks and left-hander Locke St. John are ineligible to be recalled on Thursday because they have to spend a minimum of 10 days in the Minor Leagues after being optioned, unless there has been an injury. Fairbanks was optioned on Wednesday and St. John was sent down on Saturday.

The Rangers could bring back left-hander Kyle Bird, who has had four tours with the big league club and has a 6.75 ERA in six games. He was last sent down on June 23.

Rangers beat

• Woodward said the Rangers don’t anticipate outfielder Hunter Pence being ready immediately after the All-Star break. He is on the IL with a strained right groin and is still not running full speed yet.

• Catcher Sam Huff will represent the Rangers at the 2019 Sirius XM All-Star Futures Game at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday at Progressive Field. The game will air on MLB Network and be streamed live on MLB.com. Huff has 21 home runs in 80 games at Class A Hickory and Class A Advanced Down East.

• Outfielder Scott Heineman, who missed the first 2 1/2 months of the season while recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, is making up for lost time at Nashville. In his first 17 games for the Sounds, he is hitting .369 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, a .456 on-base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage.