Texas Rangers

^Agreed, zork. Things not looking good on the Left Coast so far tonight - Angels and A's tied 4-4, going to top of seven, Houston up 3-2 on Mariners, bottom of seven. It would help if both Anaheim and Houston would lose. And the Rangers need to right the ship and start by winning tomorrow and Wednesday against Detroit.
 
Rough night all around as Colby struggles and the Rangers drop opener of the 7 game home stand to Detroit. Meanwhile Astros, Angels and Twins all win. AL West lead and wild card lead both fall and magic number hasnt moved in three days. Big start tonight for Hamels who looks to stop the losing streak and get Rangers back on track. Six games to play and it looks like every one of them will be critical.
 
Rangers bounce back but they about make my heart stop doing it as former Longhorn Drew Stubbs makes a running catch in center to end game with tying run at third and go ahead run coming from first that would have scored too if that ball drops. Rangers win 7-6 and end the 3 game losing streak.

Hamels did not have his best stuff but has just enough to get six innings and get to Dyson, Kela and Tolleson who get 3 scoreless innings to hold the lead and the game. Cole is now 6-1 as Ranger and Rangers have won his last 9 starts. He will go Sunday if needed against the Angels.

The wife and I will be out at Globe Life tomorrow to see the rubber game of this series and hopefully see the Rangers take the series and move that much closer to the most improbable playoff run I have ever seen in 40 years of watching baseball.

Pending late results on west coast for Astros and Angels, both of which dont look good for Rangers as I type this post, magic number falls to 4 both to win AL West and to guarantee a playoff spot. :texasflag:

Edit to add that Mariners finally help us out and come back to beat Houston so magic number to guarantee playoff spot falls to 3 but Angels have now won 7 straight and with one more game against an Oakland team that has packed it in they will probably be coming to Arlington on an 8 game winning streak. AL West lead is 2 over Angels.
 
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c'mon Rainjas. 4-4 tie for Stros and Sea starting the bottom of the 7th in Washington.

edit: still 4-4 to the bottom of the 8th
edit2: stros lose 6-4
 
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Got to see tonights game in person and Gallardo grinded out 5 and 1/3 while the offense saw Beltre, Chirinos and Napoli go yard as Rangers win 6-2. Combined with the Angels finally losing that means the AL West lead is 3 pending the late Houston-Seattle result.

Detroit got a hit in every single inning but somehow the Rangers pitchers never let a big inning happen after the first and the Rangers take the series 2 games to 1.

The Angels come to town now for the last 4 any one of which could see the Rangers clinch the division. Holland tomorrow, Perez Friday and then Lewis and Hamels on weekend though whether those two pitch and how much will depend on where the division race stands.

Magic number is 2 for AL West and 2 to guarantee playoff spot pending that Astros-Mariners game. :texasflag:

Update to add that Astros came back to win 7-6 and keep their tenuous hold on a wild card spot and stay alive in AL West chase.
 
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Astros and Mariners tied 6-6 going to bottom of six. Rangers need any one W against Angels to eliminate Anaheim from the AL West. Second wildcard slot still up for grabs. Angels, Astros, Twins separated by one game; order awaits outcome of the Mariner/Astro game in Seattle. Houston closes out with three at Arizona; Astros are something like 14-3 in interleague play this season. Twins have one remaining at Cleveland, then go home to host Royals. Will be interesting to see who grabs the second wild card slot to play the Yankees.
 
So here is where we stand Thursday morning with the 4 game Angel series in Arlington to close out season starting tonight. Rangers are 86-72 and sit 2 and a 1/2 games up on Houston who came back to win last night and 3 games up on the Angels. The other potential wild card team is Minnesota and the Rangers have a 4 game lead on the Twins. Houston is off today.

The effective magic number to guarantee a playoff spot is 1 win since a win by the Rangers would be over the Angels and would eliminate chances of both Minnesota and Angels passing Texas. Rangers cant win AL West tonight but they can guarantee baseball past Sunday.

The magic number to win AL West is 2 with two scenarios depending on whether it is the Astros or the Angels in second place. 1) Beat Angels twice and Astros cant pass Texas regardless of what happens in Arizona or 2) Beat Angels once and Houston loses one of its last three at Arizona. There is no scenario where Rangers lose out and win the AL West. There are scenarios where Rangers lose out and still make playoffs but I dont want to think about those.

Arizona is a dead team walking and since Houston has played one more game, just 1 win by Rangers may not be enough to win AL West. However, 1 win would guarantee that worst case is a playoff with Houston to win AL West with loser getting second wild card.

Going to be a fun 4 days in Arlington starting tonight. :texasflag:
 
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FWHORN said:
The magic number to win AL West is 2 with two scenarios depending on whether it is the Astros or the Angels in second place. 1) Beat Angels twice and Astros can't pass Texas regardless of what happens in Arizona or 2) Beat Angels once and Houston loses one of its last three at Arizona.
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I like Door Number One. Beating the Angels in the first two games today and tomorrow would end all the suspense. Considering the Rangers were 9 games out in July, they have been pretty hot since that time and appear to be peaking at the right time.

The other interesting thing to watch is the battle for Number One seed between Kansas City and Toronto. If it ended today, Texas would play KC while the wild card winner would draw the Blue Jays.
 
The Angels have beaten up the Rangers pretty bad in the season series, but Texas starting pitching now has Hamels, Holland and Perez who weren't available when most of those games were played. Not to menion Choo back to playing loose and terrorizing pitchers like nobody this side of Mike Trout.
 
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:bounce1::bounce2::yippee::bounce1::bounce2::bounce1::yippee::bounce1::bounce2::yippee:

Rangers with a huge win to start series against the Angels as Holland pitches into the seventh and future hall of famer Adrian Beltre with 3 huge RBI in the 5th with a bases clearing hit that gave Texas the lead. Holland gets his fourth win of year. Bullpen with scoreless 2 and 2/3 and Rangers have clinched a playoff spot.

Ponder that for a moment. In a year when Darvish didnt throw a single pitch, Perez didnt throw a pitch until July, Holland was injured on opening day and didnt throw another pitch until August, Harrison was so ineffective he was traded and Feliz was so bad he was DFA'd and let go, and the Rangers are in the playoffs. All of that chaos and this team overcame it to have a season that is beyond all expectations. The Rangers now have 7 shots to win AL West between the 3 Texas games, 3 Houston games and if necessary a one game playoff for the division title.

Hopeful stat of night, Perez goes tomorrow night and he is 3-0 in his last 4 home starts.

Magic Number to win AL West is down to one. :texasflag:
 
Very glad to see Holland come through with a good outing - need to be able to count on him in the postseason. Now let's pull for a victory on Friday so the Rangers can clinch the AL West!
 
fireworks tonight after the game. Hopefully they are for celebration of "Western Division champs". I feel safer talking about it now that at least they are guaranteed in the playoffs even if they tank 3 in a row.

The batting, if it stays hot throughout the playoffs or even gets hotter, with this lineup and all the available plugins, could make for an epic run. The leadership of the guys who have been there, from the recent years playoff runs to the WS, and potentially a Hambone positive contributor wildcard, might be what it takes to push far or further than the past runs.

But maybe I'm getting too optimistic. The will to win needs to be strong with guys like Beltre, Fielder, Moreland, etc, leading the rest to make it happen every night of the playoffs.
 
Nice job by Holland and the good guys last night versus the Angles.

1 win or loss by 'stros to win the Division baby - yeah!

Viper is right, many of us need to take a deep breath and rest...
 
Rangers cant take advantage of a great performance by Perez and lose game two to the Angels 2-1 giving up a run in the first and a run in the ninth. Tolleson pitching for the fourth straight day gets the loss. Rangers had a couple of opportunities but couldnt get the bats going. Magic number stays at 1 and with Astros up big out in Arizona it looks like we will go to Saturday still looking for a result that wins the AL West. Colby Lewis pitches tomorrow in a high noon start.
 
damn. I turned it off when the Rangers went up 8-6. Not good to lose today they way they did.
 
Hard to believe - the best bullpen in the AL can't hold a four-run lead in top of nine. Now the Rangers need (a) a loss by Houston in Arizona tonight or (b) a win over the Angels tomorrow afternoon.
 
As gut wrenching a ninth as the Rangers have had since 2011 and the Rangers blow a 4 run lead to lose 11-10. Hard to say this hurts as much as 2011 because the circumstances are so different but it had the same feel to it. Cole Hamels goes tomorrow and that is why the Rangers brought him in. We are all Diamondback fans tonight.
 
Hambone could have been the double home run hero but alas again, he is foiled. Hope he keeps the bat going in the weeks to come to supplement many other 10 run showings buy the Rangers with hopefully well less than double digit runs being given up.
 
Last day of season and Rangers sit one game up on Houston. Rangers will throw their ace Hamels who they picked up at the trade deadline for just such a game. Angels will bring their ace this year Garrett Richards back on three days rest. Out in the desert Houston will throw McCullers against Arizona which seems to have given up the ghost and is just playing out the string. Texas has no bullpen left as Dyson and Tolleson have both pitched five straight days and Kela, Diekmann and Ohlendorf have thrown a ton this past week too. Even Chi Chi threw two innings yesterday and may not be available for much. It may all be on Hamels to throw 8 or even 9 innings.

Houston guaranteed it will play past today one way or the other with their win last night but they could be playing any of two play in games or the wild card depending on todays results. Amazingly the Yankees are in a tailspin and a New York loss today means that either Houston or the Rangers could host the wild card.

Whatever happens today, the Rangers have at least two more games, at least one of which will be in Arlington, and hopefully more than that. Keep in mind no one would have thought that the Rangers would be playing past today when the season started so enjoy the ride even with the heartache of yesterday. :texasflag:
 
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Seeing all this from the flip side, being an Astros fan. Very dramatic final day. The Angels are darn good right now. From your description it sounds like these three teams will be a bit used up to start the playoffs.
 
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Same thought about enjoying the ride holds true for Houston fans, how many people in April thought Houston would be playing past today. MLB baseball in Texas has never had such a successful combined season with both teams playing past game 162 and both potentially in the playoffs in the same season.
 
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:yippee::bounce1::bounce2::yippee::bounce1::bounce2::yippee::bounce1::bounce2::yippee::bounce1::bounce2::yippee:

:texasflag: :texasflag: :texasflag: :texasflag: AL WEST CHAMPIONS :texasflag: :texasflag: :texasflag: :texasflag:

Cole Hamels shows that he is one of those aces that you want to have anchoring your staff because when you need him most he comes up biggest. Hamels makes one mistake in the first and that is it as he pitches a 3 hit complete game. Rangers blow this game open in the seventh with six huge runs and Hamels pitches that complete game to get the win and the Rangers win for tenth straight time with him starting. Hamels is 7-1 as a Ranger.

Goodbye heartache of yesterday as Rangers win 9-2 and get their 88th win of year and push that magic number to zero.

When I started this thread way back in May, I dont think anyone had any idea that 4 plus months later it would be going strong and it would see the most unbelievable and unexpected division title that any of us have ever seen. From the worst record in the AL to winning the West in one season, that just isn't seen around here. Rangers will play Toronto starting Thursday and this thread doesnt end just yet.

:texasflag:
 
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now they are in. time to advance. Big inning by the heart of an ever imposing offense when it clicks. 9-1-2-3-4-5-6 all reached in the bottom of the 7th. f'ing beautiful.
 
Houston loses to Arizona so they fail to take advantage of the Yankees slide and will have to travel to New York for the wild card game Tuesday night. Congrats to Astros though on a playoff season that shows the minor league ball Houston has had to endure for the past five seasons is finally a thing of the past. Interesting to see if they bring Keuchel back on three days rest for that one.

Rangers will head to Toronto and it will be interesting to see who pitches Thursday. For my money Holland is the starter and since todays start means Hamels will only throw one game in ALDS I throw Colby Friday saving Hamels for a home start next Sunday. Toronto and Texas were two hottest teams in second half of year so it should be a fun series. Toronto will have advantage of getting to throw Price twice.
 
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That is a tough one. Going to have to win one in Toronto and the second game should be a easier mark than the fifth game so I would gamble with Hamels on Friday. I don't know why but I would start either Perez or Gallardo on Thursday as the visiting team usually doesn't play well in the first game of a Series so why waste the better two (Holland and Lewis)? Hopefully both will do better at home than on the road. Lewis is exhausted and Holland cannot keep the ball in the park. Hello bullpen!
 
Vipe, not only does home team usually have advantage in game one but for Toronto in particular Price has been really tough so getting a result in game one will be extremely difficult. Given that, it will be interesting to see who Bannister dials up for game one, Gallardo is solid but will not get past 6 and probably just 5 so you burn through your bullpen early if you run him out game one. Perez has never pitched in a playoff game and I dont think you run him out and basically concede game one. Besides, I tend to think that Perez/Gallardo are the game four starter with both available for that game and both more solid at home. So hard choice is Holland or Lewis in game one and then do you run Hamels out in game two or three. Holland was very solid Thursday night and has some huge playoff starts for the Rangers under his belt and he is who I think Bannister dials up. Who Bannister pitches in game two might depend on what happens in game one though I suspect he does as you say and pitches Hamels regardless. That means Colby in game three.

I really wanted KC in this series as they are vulnerable and as much as I want to pick the Rangers my early thought is Toronto in five but the Rangers have been shocking everyone all year so I have a lot of hope that thought is wrong. :texasflag:
 
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