Rangers team is full of goats tonight. They squandered a great opportunity and blew a ninth inning lead. Feliz blew his sixth save of the season which i unacceptable. Young had an error at third that cost them a run. Young couldn't get the job done with two men on in the 9th in scoring position with a chance to tie. CJ melted down in the 7th inning. Poor team performance all around. 1st win tonight for the Indians in 6 games so far this year vs Texas.
Bad news today as well as Beltre will be out at least another 3 weeks.
Only good news of the day for the Rangers is that the halos lost to the Mariners. Rangers still maintain the same one game lead they had going into the All Star break.
With California winning earlier today, the Rangers had to win to maintain their 1 game lead and they came through. A 5 run rally in the bottom of the 8th, and Mike Adams closing it out was the tandem they were looking for tonight. He's the new guy, but the fans are getting restless with Feliz. It's not just his subpar performance of needing two hands to count his blown saves, but his attitude when being questioned about it that bothers us. To summarize, he's basically been saying he's not as geared up as last year. Well, if that's the case, sit his a.. down, and use Adams.
<< <i>Thanks again for taking care of the Tribe for us!! Hope to see you in the ALDS!!! sincerely, Detroit >>
With the superiority of the Yankees and Red Sox (as far as records go), it looks like Detroit and Texas would both be playing one of them in the ALDS. Tell you what, the Rangers will take care of the Red Sox, and y'all can handle the Yankees, and then we'll see ya in the ALCS. That would drive those East loving pundits crazy, LOL. Not too sure the Rangers can handle the Phillies, but I have little to no doubt they can win a playoff series against Boston or New York.
Rangers took care of business tonight against the Mariners. Magic number down to 46.
Late inning comeback tonight against the Mariners. Rangers win game 2 on a Josh Hamilton walk off single. As usual, can't count on the yankees for jack and they dropped one tonight against the Halos so magic number only drops one more to 45.
Special thanks to the Yankees, LOL, for their 2 victories against the Halos. That and the Rangers wins in game 1 and 2 against Oakland, and another Halos loss today has lowered the magic number to 40. Key series for both the Rangers and the Angels starts Monday as they'll be head to head again. Next weekend, it might be the Angels counting down their magic number, who knows? A close baseball season is by far the greatest season of any of the professional sports as long as your team still has a chance. Gives us fans several months of enjoyment and hope, and a fun, roller coaster ride the whole way.
I know I talk a lot of noise on here in regards to the Rangers, but it's all in good fun. Truthfully, I absolutely love the game of baseball, and have no ill will towards any team, with the one exception of the Yankees. Good luck to all those fans of teams that still have a chance.
Wow, LAA fans are something else. One of their biggest series of the season and they are booing the home team early and often. Are they always that fickle?
Mike - Halo Fan here. Its been tough watching so many boneheaded plays by the Angels its crazy. Did you know our staff has blown 16 save chances? meaning leading or tied going into the last inning...they keep putting Walden out there, but and he throws 98 MPH, but he stopped throwing his slider, so everyone has been sitting on the fast ball. Aybar and Callopso are two of the dumbest players you'll ever see running the bases. Wells and Abreu have been in year long slumps. we have 5 rookies in key positions and most of the time they have been above average, but they are rookies and it shows at times.
lastnight Takahasi has two strikes on Young and fooling him badly on the outside corner with bleaking stuff. Then Takahasi a lefty tries to bust an 85MPH fastball inside on Young a righty. Guess who won that battle.
Its just been a frustrating year. we sat on the sidelines at the trade dead line, when we need a bat and bullpen help, while you guys got what you needed. If it wasn't for Weaver, Haren and santana, we would be 20 games out...
Rangers just blew a prime opportunity to put the hurt on the Halos. Recent import Mike Adams served up a two run walk off homer to Trumbo and Rangers instantly lost an otherwise good game and a chance to go up 8 games
Rangers bounced back tonight. Win over the ChiSox cuts the magic number to 31
Fun looking series in a few days against Bosox but both teams appear to be without a key bat. Ortiz for Boston and Beltre for Texas. Should be fun to watch. I've got tix but unfortunately ill miss the games due to business
I have been enjoying the updates Mike....who needs SportsCenter (for Rangers anyway).
Good luck down the stretch.
Collecting PSA graded Steve Young, Marcus Allen, Bret Saberhagen and 1980s Topps Cards. Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
Rangers took care of business against BoSox in game 1 of this 4 game series. Boston goes without a run for the 9th time this season as Rangers pitchers toss their 15th shutout (Phils lead the majors with 17) Rangers are now 4 and 0 this season against their Eastern division friend and potential ALDS foe.
Going back into last year, Rangers have won 10 of their last 12 against Boston
Impressive stats. I call Bedard Mr. Little League......He can only go 6 innings. Very frustrating to watch him here in Seattle over the last few years, I'm sure he'll be on the DL within the next couple starts. Congrats to the Rangers. Doug
The Mighty Red Sox opened up a can of whoop a.. on the Rangers tonight. Colby Lewis was awful. Angels currently beating the other Sox so magic number looks like it will remain steady tonight.
It was like a softball game tonight, balls flying everywhere off the Red Sox bats.
I've got tix tomorrow but unfortunately I've got work BS so won't get to go tomorrow. I'll be in the house for the Angels this weekend though. Hopefully the Mighty Red Sox will allow the Rangers to win at least 1 of the rest of the series. We are a rather hospitable people down here though, so we've got to let the visitors win every now and then.
Well, the Mighty Red Sox didn't let the Rangers win another one. It was like the minor leagues vx. the major leagues, the JV vs. the Varsity, Silver vs. Gold, a seal vs. A Great White Shark, etc, etc, etc.
Next up is a weekend series against the Angels. The Angels could be in sole possession of first after Sunday. The sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. LOL, Rangers still right where they need to be. Shaping up to be a very entertaining September. Looking forward to rematches against our Eastern brethren come playoff time.
Back from my business trip and the Rangers took care of business against the Halos. Angels had a chance to get their deficit down to 1, but Holland pitched well for a decent outing, and lead is back up to 3. Angels have Weaver pitching on Sunday, so Rangers need to pick up one on Saturday as well. Since the All Star break, Rangers have fended off the Angels in 4 of their 5 games head to head. At the break, the Rangers were up 1 and have increased that to 3. Rangers get Boston again relatively soon, so it's imperative they give themselves some breathing room against the Angels.
<< <i>Rangers need to bring the hurt on Weaver tonight. Hopefully the 'good' Lewis shows up and shuts down the hot Halos...... >>
Yeah, sometimes Colby pitches well enough to win the World Series, and other times he toils bad enough that he couldn't win the Little League World Series (no offense to Little Leaguers intended). The bad part is, there are really no precursors as to which one shows up either, it's a coin flip.
I was there last night and had to leave early cause of whiplash, LOL. The Angels were smashing the ball all over the outfield stands. Rangers need to win this one so they can have some cushion when they play the Mighty Red Sox next week, and subject themselves to softball type scores again.
Beltre needs to get his rear in gear and get back, we need him.
Angels played this series like they were desparate by moving up both Santana and Weaver to pitch on 3 days rest. It worked for them last night, but fortunately not tonight. Rangers take game 3 to win the series and go back up 3 games in the AL West. However, this may prove to be a very costly victory as Nellie Cruz pulled up lame while running out a double and tweaked his hamstring again. The Rangers can ill afford to lose his bat at this time of the season. I'd have much rather they lost this game and kept Nellie healthy, then vice versa.
Magic number down to 26. Tough schedule coming up with Tampa Bay for a couple series and Boston for one. Could be an ugly couple of weeks, but for now, they are still in 1st.
Beltre is expected back Thursday, but we'll find out about Nellie tomorrow or Tuesday I guess.
Dang, the word down here from the beat writers/reporters is that Nellie will be out a minimum of 3 weeks. Couldn't have come at a worse time. Oh well, we'll see what they are or are not made of the next few weeks. As Ron Washington says "That's the way baseball go."
So far, the Angels are missing what should be a prime opportunity for them to gain ground in the AL West. They've played Seattle the last 3 nights and are now 1 and 2 against them, having two late inning meltdowns in the process. Texas has played Tampa Bay the last two games and has managed a 1-1 split so far. The magic number has been reduced by 3 since my last update. Now down to 23. Maven and I were 15 rows above the visitor's on deck circle tonight. We had a blast even though they lost. She's a great kid, makes me laugh a ton!
Nice win tonight against Tampa Bay to win the series. Next up is the Mighty Red Sox. I can't believe they are going to let the Rangers play on their field, LOL. Hopefully the Sox don't post up those softball type numbers they did here in Arlington last week.
Magic number down to 22, hopefully Seattle will comeback again against Angels tonight and knock it down another. If Rangers hang tough the next 7 days it's beginning to look promising. Have to get past a series with Boston and a series with Tampa Bay first. Angels catch the Twins and then Seattle again I think.
Woohoo, tie breaker, playoff and World Series tickets ordered today. Now it's just whether or not I get to use any or all of them. (and Rangers are notoriously bad about taking a while to refund if there are unused tickets!) I better go over to the B/S/T and ebay and sell a few ex Presidents LOL.
Nice first game in Boston. Rangers win 10 to 0. Nice victory after the Texas sized butt kickin' they put on the Rangers last week. Hopefully the Rangers can get one of the last two and get the heck out of there with a series win. Next time I want to see Boston or New York is against the Rangers in the playoffs.
Another beer league game against the Red Sox. Rangers lose 12-7. Magic number stays at 20. Their hopes for the day rely on Brian Duensing and the Twins to reduce the magic number. Go Duensing, he's on my fantasy team as well.
The recent games against Boston haven't even been fun to watch. I like to watch relatively low scoring good pitching games, but it seems every time we play them, it's lopsided one way or the other. Oh well, at least the right team won today. Rangers win season series against BoSox for the third straight year. If we make it to the playoffs against them, we need to dump Colby Lewis from the playoff roster and go with all lefties.
Detroit appears to be sneaking up in the rear view mirror trying to take away 1st round home field advantage for the playoffs for the Rangers. Gotta start rooting against both Anaheim and Detroit now. Rangers have won three relatively tough series in a row, took 2 of 3 from the Angels, 2 of 3 from the Rays, 2 of 3 from the BoSox. Now it's on to Tampa Bay for another series in this brutal stretch of games. At least the Rangers are guaranteed now to come home from the road trip still in first place. Angels have the Yankees next weekend so as bad as I hate to say it, Go Yanks, go!!!
Rangers toss yet another shutout. Rangers try to win their third straight series against a decent Eastern foe tomorrow.
Magic number down to 18
Would someone beat Detroit please? Now tied with Detroit in the loss column and only a 1/2 game lead to host an ALDS series. Both Detroit and Texas have pretty crappy schedules the rest of the way once Texas gets done with the Rays, so it should be a shootout to the end for that potentially clutch home field in the ALDS.
I was busy and didn't get to go tonight, but the Rangers looked good in pounding the A's. It's their 9th win in a row against the A's. Magic number down to 16. Still no Nellie Cruz, but they didn't need him, nor did they need AL MVP Josh Hamilton , as he decided to take the night off to be with his wife for the birth of his 4th child.
Go Yankees Go! Go Yankees Go! (they are playing the halos this weekend, so at least Go! until Monday )
Also, Go Red Sox Go!, Go Red Sox Go! (would much rather play them than Tampa Bay in the playoffs)
and would someone please beat Detroit every now and then, LOL.
This has been a day of personal sports fan hell for me, LOL. Me and Maven went to the Rangers game where they got beat by the A's 8-7. I'm also currently in the fantasy baseball playoffs and it's a very close matchup with only today and tomorrow remaining, and my opponent has Sizemore on his team. I watched Sizemore hit a grand slam which helped the A's win, and greatly helped my opponents fantasy team. The Angels are rocking the NY Yankees as I type. Have I ever told y'all, I HATE THE YANKEES. They'll beat the whole world until I need them to win one flippin series and now all of a sudden they are the epitome of a Hoover. And then Michigan gets a BS win against the Irish with 2 seconds left cause ND once again can't take care of a small piece of pigskin.
Time to benadryl up and hit the bed and hope for a better sports day tomorrow. Oh well, if the Rangers don't clinch before the regular season ending series in Anaheim, then at least they'll be able to celebrate in the Halo's house, which will be quite sweet.
Today was much better than yesterday. My fantasy team hung on by the skin of their chinny, chin, chin, and the Rangers took the A's to the woodshed and pounded them and officially eliminated the A's in the AL West. Hopefully the A's will be so mad, that they'll do a number on the Angels the next few days. Was nice to see the Yankees pick up a W against the Angels as well. Magic number now down to 14.
Rangers have Monday off, so Halos will either gain a 1/2 game or lose a 1/2 game. That will give me a reason to stay up late tomorrow night.
Rangers went up against the stingiest starting pitcher in the AL as far as allowing home runs, and they blasted him. They got the magic number off of the unlucky 13 very quickly and it now stands at 12.
Rangers blasted the Indians again. They had their biggest inning as far as runs scored of the last two years. A local flooring company has been offering a promotion this month, where if Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam, then every one of their customers in Sept. up to that point would get their entire flooring job free. Josh stepped up and paid dividends for a lot of lucky customers as he went yard for a grand slam blast.
Angels won earlier in the day, but Rangers hold serve. Magic number down to 11.
Freaking Detroit won their 12th straight though and Rangers are trying in vain to catch them to host a first round series.
Rangers won tonight to sweep the series with the Indians. Couldn't have come at a better time. Lead up to 3.5 games now, and magic number down to 10. The Rangers are 22 games over .500 which is their best record this century. As long as the Rangers keep taking care of business, there's not a dang thing the Angels can do.
Detroit is losing as well early on, so maybe a chance to pick up a game on them for the ALDS first round home field advantage.
Doesn't look like the Rangers are going to bend. Halos might have a better chance at the Wild Card than catching you guys. Red Sox stink right now and Yankees / Rays play 7 more times.....4 games back in the WC is looking better than 3.5 behind you guys...
Was watching a DVR recording of Survivor, while keeping up with the Angels game on the mobile phone. Former Rangers Vlad Guerrero and Tommy Hunter helped out their old squad tonight. Magic number down to 9, with the Rangers just getting started out in Mariners country tonight.
I started the magic number countdown on July 23rd when it was at 58 and its now down to 7
Rangers get it done in Seattle, and Angels don't against Baltimore. Lead in the AL West is now 4.5 and 4 in the loss column. (Rangers play Halos for the final three games of the season, so it sure would be nice to get it done before then.)
Detroit lost today as well, so Rangers are 1 game behind them to host the first round of the ALDS (however, it's effectively 2 behind as Detroit owns the tiebreaker). Keep on winning guys and the rest will take care of itself.
Rangers just took game 3 of the series with the Mariners. Some interesting stats:
Queen Felix is now 10-15 lifetime against the Rangers with almost a 4 ERA.
Most people know the Rangers can hit, but they can pitch a little bit as well. Today was their 19th shutout which is tops in the American League since 2002. They are second this season to the Phillies staff in shutouts, however 1 out of every 9 batters in the NL is a pitcher that most of the time can't hit a lick so it's not really a good comparison.
Neftali Feliz got the save today, it was his 16th appearance all time against Seattle, and they have never even gotten a hit against him. That's DOMINANCE.
Rangers are at a season high record of 23 games over .500.
Angels won today, but Rangers hold steady and do the same. Magic number down to 6, lead is still 4.5 in the standings and 4 in the loss column. Detroit is winning in the 9th inning, so Rangers look like they will still be behind the Tigers by a game for home field advantage.
I hope you are right. I'll be at that game with my wife and kids so if they clinch that will be awesome
BTW if you need two tickets to ALDS home game 1, I've got two extra and will sell the pair for $150. Upper deck between home plate and visitors dugout
Mike
<< <i>Looking at the chart, I predict the Rangers clinch Saturday on national TV. I hope I can get a couple of good seats for that game before it sells out.
Magic #5 Chart TEX LAA tie LAA win 9-0 E E 8-1 E E 7-2 E E 6-3 E E 5-4 E E 4-5 9-0 10-0 (play-off) 3-6 8-1 9-0 2-7 7-2 8-1 1-8 6-3 7-2 0-9 5-4 6-3 >>
Although games the last couple weeks of the season count the exact same as games during April and May, they always seem to be magnified in their importance during this time of the season. Holland pitched another great game, Michael Young got his 200th hit for the 8th time in his underrated career, and the Rangers defeated Oakland in a big game.
Rangers have now tied Detroit (Detroit owns the tiebreaker though) for the opportunity to host a ALDS Series. Sure would be a nice ammenity to have in the playoffs, and would potentially lead to a much lower caliber of opponent if the Red Sox can hold on to the Wild Card rather than having to play the Yankees in New York.
Angels won tonight as well, but the magic number is still headed in the right direction, it's down to 4.
Ian Kinsler homered in the 8th inning to tie it, and Josh Hamilton launched the game winner a couple batters later. Rangers defeat A's again. 25 games over .500 is their best record so far this year.
Unfortunately, no ground was gained on the Tigers for home field, and the Angels won as well to keep pace. One good thing is that if the Angels happen to catch Texas, the way that Boston and Tampa Bay are playing right now, the Rangers might still be able to nab the wild card. I don't envision the Angels catching the Rangers, but it would be nice to have the fallback position of the wild card.
In the late innings and the extra innings, the Angels, Tigers & Rangers all choked it up in varying degrees tonight. The big L for all 3.
Tigers & Rangers still tied for the right to host a ALDS series (Tigers win tiebreaker)
Rangers magic number to win the AL West falls to 2. Rangers headed back to Arlington this weekend. Maven and I will be there, but LAA is playing on the West Coast with a 2 hour later starting time. So if Rangers win and Angels lose, we still won't get to enjoy it at the ballpark. Would much rather see the Rangers win Friday, and LAA win as well, and then the Rangers clinch on Saturday by winning. My daughter and I would have an absolute blast watching the celebration and high fiving and jumping around with total strangers, LOL.
However, if they do wrap it up by the Angels losing tomorrow, I'm not going to complain too bad. There are a lot of other teams that aren't going to get to the postseason so as a Rangers fan, I'll take what I can get.
Mike ... it's so kewl that Maven enjoys going to the games with you. Hope you two have a fantastic time at the Stadium this weekend.
STAY HEALTHY!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Well, Maven was under the weather tonight so I elected to stay home rather than take her to the game. We watched the first couple of innings together on TV and then she fell asleep. Rangers win against Seattle. Fun game to watch. Even an inside the park homerun for Gentry's 1st MLB homerun. Feliz with another solid ninth.
Unfortunately, Baltimore couldn't get it done against Detroit. They had men on 1st and 2nd with no one out and couldn't score in extra innings and Detroit pulled it out. Texas and Detroit still tied, advantage Detroit on tiebreaker. Verlander throwing tomorrow as well.
Magic number down to 1. Anaheim currently losing to A's 1-0, but I kinda hope they comeback as I have tix tomorrow and selfishly want to see the Rangers clinch in person with me and my whole family there. Seattle is throwing Felix Hernandez but Rangers usually have their way with him.
Comments
Bad news today as well as Beltre will be out at least another 3 weeks.
Only good news of the day for the Rangers is that the halos lost to the Mariners. Rangers still maintain the same one game lead they had going into the All Star break.
Magic number down to 48
<< <i>Thanks again for taking care of the Tribe for us!! Hope to see you in the ALDS!!! sincerely, Detroit >>
With the superiority of the Yankees and Red Sox (as far as records go), it looks like Detroit and Texas would both be playing one of them in the ALDS. Tell you what, the Rangers will take care of the Red Sox, and y'all can handle the Yankees, and then we'll see ya in the ALCS. That would drive those East loving pundits crazy, LOL. Not too sure the Rangers can handle the Phillies, but I have little to no doubt they can win a playoff series against Boston or New York.
Rangers took care of business tonight against the Mariners. Magic number down to 46.
Mike
I know I talk a lot of noise on here in regards to the Rangers, but it's all in good fun. Truthfully, I absolutely love the game of baseball, and have no ill will towards any team, with the one exception of the Yankees. Good luck to all those fans of teams that still have a chance.
Go Rangers! Get er done!
lastnight Takahasi has two strikes on Young and fooling him badly on the outside corner with bleaking stuff. Then Takahasi a lefty tries to bust an 85MPH fastball inside on Young a righty. Guess who won that battle.
Its just been a frustrating year. we sat on the sidelines at the trade dead line, when we need a bat and bullpen help, while you guys got what you needed. If it wasn't for Weaver, Haren and santana, we would be 20 games out...
"If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
Due to the prior 3 games, magic number down to 32
Fun looking series in a few days against Bosox but both teams appear to be without a key bat. Ortiz for Boston and Beltre for Texas. Should be fun to watch. I've got tix but unfortunately ill miss the games due to business
Go Rangers!!
Good luck down the stretch.
Raw: Tony Gonzalez (low #'d cards, and especially 1/1's) and Steve Young.
Going back into last year, Rangers have won 10 of their last 12 against Boston
Magic number down to 30
It was like a softball game tonight, balls flying everywhere off the Red Sox bats.
I've got tix tomorrow but unfortunately I've got work BS so won't get to go tomorrow. I'll be in the house for the Angels this weekend though. Hopefully the Mighty Red Sox will allow the Rangers to win at least 1 of the rest of the series. We are a rather hospitable people down here though, so we've got to let the visitors win every now and then.
Mike
Next up is a weekend series against the Angels. The Angels could be in sole possession of first after Sunday. The sky is falling, the sky is falling, the sky is falling. LOL, Rangers still right where they need to be. Shaping up to be a very entertaining September. Looking forward to rematches against our Eastern brethren come playoff time.
Great ballgame tonight. Miller was fantastic and the Red Sox have found their home run range.
Magic number down to 28.
<< <i>Rangers need to bring the hurt on Weaver tonight. Hopefully the 'good' Lewis shows up and shuts down the hot Halos...... >>
Yeah, sometimes Colby pitches well enough to win the World Series, and other times he toils bad enough that he couldn't win the Little League World Series (no offense to Little Leaguers intended). The bad part is, there are really no precursors as to which one shows up either, it's a coin flip.
I was there last night and had to leave early cause of whiplash, LOL. The Angels were smashing the ball all over the outfield stands. Rangers need to win this one so they can have some cushion when they play the Mighty Red Sox next week, and subject themselves to softball type scores again.
Beltre needs to get his rear in gear and get back, we need him.
Mike
Magic number down to 26. Tough schedule coming up with Tampa Bay for a couple series and Boston for one. Could be an ugly couple of weeks, but for now, they are still in 1st.
Beltre is expected back Thursday, but we'll find out about Nellie tomorrow or Tuesday I guess.
Come on guys, pull it out!!
Mike
Mike
Go Rangers! Keep plugging away.
Mike
Magic number down to 22, hopefully Seattle will comeback again against Angels tonight and knock it down another. If Rangers hang tough the next 7 days it's beginning to look promising. Have to get past a series with Boston and a series with Tampa Bay first. Angels catch the Twins and then Seattle again I think.
Mike
Mike
Magic number down to 21, slowly but surely.
Mike
Mike
Detroit appears to be sneaking up in the rear view mirror trying to take away 1st round home field advantage for the playoffs for the Rangers. Gotta start rooting against both Anaheim and Detroit now. Rangers have won three relatively tough series in a row, took 2 of 3 from the Angels, 2 of 3 from the Rays, 2 of 3 from the BoSox. Now it's on to Tampa Bay for another series in this brutal stretch of games. At least the Rangers are guaranteed now to come home from the road trip still in first place. Angels have the Yankees next weekend so as bad as I hate to say it, Go Yanks, go!!!
Magic number down to 19
Mike
Magic number down to 18
Would someone beat Detroit please? Now tied with Detroit in the loss column and only a 1/2 game lead to host an ALDS series. Both Detroit and Texas have pretty crappy schedules the rest of the way once Texas gets done with the Rays, so it should be a shootout to the end for that potentially clutch home field in the ALDS.
Mike
Detroit has now overtaken the Rangers in the quest to host a ALDS series.
Mike
Go Yankees Go! Go Yankees Go! (they are playing the halos this weekend, so at least Go! until Monday
Also, Go Red Sox Go!, Go Red Sox Go! (would much rather play them than Tampa Bay in the playoffs)
and would someone please beat Detroit every now and then, LOL.
Mike
Time to benadryl up and hit the bed and hope for a better sports day tomorrow. Oh well, if the Rangers don't clinch before the regular season ending series in Anaheim, then at least they'll be able to celebrate in the Halo's house, which will be quite sweet.
Rangers have Monday off, so Halos will either gain a 1/2 game or lose a 1/2 game. That will give me a reason to stay up late tomorrow night.
Mike
Magic number now down to 13 and the Rangers now have a full 3 game lead.
Time to go tune in to the Halos game.
Mike
Angels won earlier in the day, but Rangers hold serve. Magic number down to 11.
Freaking Detroit won their 12th straight though and Rangers are trying in vain to catch them to host a first round series.
Mike
Detroit is losing as well early on, so maybe a chance to pick up a game on them for the ALDS first round home field advantage.
Go Rangers! Get 'er done.
"If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
Rangers get it done in Seattle, and Angels don't against Baltimore. Lead in the AL West is now 4.5 and 4 in the loss column. (Rangers play Halos for the final three games of the season, so it sure would be nice to get it done before then.)
Detroit lost today as well, so Rangers are 1 game behind them to host the first round of the ALDS (however, it's effectively 2 behind as Detroit owns the tiebreaker). Keep on winning guys and the rest will take care of itself.
Mike
Queen Felix is now 10-15 lifetime against the Rangers with almost a 4 ERA.
Most people know the Rangers can hit, but they can pitch a little bit as well. Today was their 19th shutout which is tops in the American League since 2002. They are second this season to the Phillies staff in shutouts, however 1 out of every 9 batters in the NL is a pitcher that most of the time can't hit a lick so it's not really a good comparison.
Neftali Feliz got the save today, it was his 16th appearance all time against Seattle, and they have never even gotten a hit against him. That's DOMINANCE.
Rangers are at a season high record of 23 games over .500.
Angels won today, but Rangers hold steady and do the same. Magic number down to 6, lead is still 4.5 in the standings and 4 in the loss column. Detroit is winning in the 9th inning, so Rangers look like they will still be behind the Tigers by a game for home field advantage.
Mike
Magic number down to 5. Beginning to look like I might have a chance to use at least a couple of my playoff tickets.
TEX------- LAA tie---- LAA win
`9-0------ E------- E
`8-1 -------E----- E
`7-2-------E------ E
`6-3 ------E------ E
`5-4 -------E----- E
`4-5 -----`9-0 -----`10-0 (play-off)
`3-6-------`8-1---- `9-0
`2-7 -------`7-2------ `8-1
`1-8 --------`6-3----- `7-2
`0-9--------`5-4----- `6-3
BTW if you need two tickets to ALDS home game 1, I've got two extra and will sell the pair for $150. Upper deck between home plate and visitors dugout
Mike
<< <i>Looking at the chart, I predict the Rangers clinch Saturday on national TV. I hope I can get a couple of good seats for that game before it sells out.
Magic #5 Chart
TEX LAA tie LAA win
9-0 E E
8-1 E E
7-2 E E
6-3 E E
5-4 E E
4-5 9-0 10-0 (play-off)
3-6 8-1 9-0
2-7 7-2 8-1
1-8 6-3 7-2
0-9 5-4 6-3 >>
Rangers have now tied Detroit (Detroit owns the tiebreaker though) for the opportunity to host a ALDS Series. Sure would be a nice ammenity to have in the playoffs, and would potentially lead to a much lower caliber of opponent if the Red Sox can hold on to the Wild Card rather than having to play the Yankees in New York.
Angels won tonight as well, but the magic number is still headed in the right direction, it's down to 4.
Unfortunately, no ground was gained on the Tigers for home field, and the Angels won as well to keep pace. One good thing is that if the Angels happen to catch Texas, the way that Boston and Tampa Bay are playing right now, the Rangers might still be able to nab the wild card. I don't envision the Angels catching the Rangers, but it would be nice to have the fallback position of the wild card.
Tigers & Rangers still tied for the right to host a ALDS series (Tigers win tiebreaker)
Rangers magic number to win the AL West falls to 2. Rangers headed back to Arlington this weekend. Maven and I will be there, but LAA is playing on the West Coast with a 2 hour later starting time. So if Rangers win and Angels lose, we still won't get to enjoy it at the ballpark. Would much rather see the Rangers win Friday, and LAA win as well, and then the Rangers clinch on Saturday by winning. My daughter and I would have an absolute blast watching the celebration and high fiving and jumping around with total strangers, LOL.
However, if they do wrap it up by the Angels losing tomorrow, I'm not going to complain too bad. There are a lot of other teams that aren't going to get to the postseason so as a Rangers fan, I'll take what I can get.
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Unfortunately, Baltimore couldn't get it done against Detroit. They had men on 1st and 2nd with no one out and couldn't score in extra innings and Detroit pulled it out. Texas and Detroit still tied, advantage Detroit on tiebreaker. Verlander throwing tomorrow as well.
Magic number down to 1. Anaheim currently losing to A's 1-0, but I kinda hope they comeback as I have tix tomorrow and selfishly want to see the Rangers clinch in person with me and my whole family there. Seattle is throwing Felix Hernandez but Rangers usually have their way with him.