The Texas Rangers (81-67) have all but blown their chance to win the American League West crown with an epic late-season collapse, and now may be on the verge of coughing up a wildcard berth as well. Tonight at 7:10 p.m they will take on the Tampa Bay Rays (81-67) with whom they are locked in a dead heat in the wild card race. Live stream the game here; Rays fans can turn their radio dials to WDAE 620 while Rangers fans can do the same on 103.3 ESPN Radio.
Matt Garza (3-4, 4.46 ERA) will take the mound for Texas and try to keep their postseason chances alive amid their 2-11 September slide. Manager Ron Washington has abandoned postseason thoughts, and is trying to keep his team focused on winning one game at a time.
"Right now we're just trying to win a ballgame," Washington told the team's official website. "I'm not thinking about no playoffs, I'm not thinking about anything. We're just trying to win a ballgame. I just want to win a ballgame. Can you help me?"
Washington said he can't figure out why his team has suddenly gone ice cold. "I'm not sure what's going on," Washington said. "I've never witnessed it before. You can have days that don't go right, but we left 10 on. Opportunities were there again, we just didn't cash them in."
Meanwhile, the Rays have been far from flawless, blowing a late lead against the lowly Minnesota Twins yesterday. "We've had way too many missteps already this year. That's what's got us in this position," manager Joe Maddon said. "We have played well enough to have a much better record."
The Rays will send youngster Alex Cobb (8-3, 3.08 ERA) on the mound to face off against Garza to kick off this massively important American League series.
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