Tonight, at 7:10 p.m. ET, it's a battle between the American League's two Wild Card representatives as the Texas Rangers (82-69) wrap up their visit to Tampa Bay in the final game of a four-game set against the Rays (83-68) at Tropicana Field. The game can be live streamed here. Rangers fans can hear all the action on 103.3 ESPN, while Rays fans can access it by turning their dials to WDAE 620.
The Rays have taken two out of three from Texas so far in this series with a 6-2 victory on Monday and a thrilling 4-3 walk-off win in the 12th inning Wednesday, while the Ranger took a 7-1 victory on Tuesday. The tussle to be the top Wild Card team spills over into tonight when Yu Darvish (12-9, 2.79 ERA through 29 games) takes the hill for the Rangers while Matt Moore (15-3, 3.11, 24) mans the mound for the hometown Rays.
The teams enter tonight's game separated by just one game in the race, but the Rangers have been on a downward spiral and are looking to turn things around in tonight's game after dropping 11 of the last 13 which led to manager Ron Washington fearing for his future with the club. Both teams need a win desperately as six teams in the AL are separated by just 2.5 games in the Wild Card race.
Adding to all the drama of tonight is that the winner of tonight's game will notch a season series victory, which could serve as the tie-breaker for home field advantage in the one-off Wild Card game if the two teams finish tied with the same record atop the Wild Card standings.
Darvish enters tonight's game leading the majors with 256 strikeouts and is second in the league behind Miami Marlins rookie Jose Fernandez with a .190 batting average-against. He's fourth in the AL in ERA (2.79) and third in WHIP (1.03). In his last seven starts, he's lasted at least five innings but has gotten two runs or fewer of support from his team in that span.
"There is only so much you can do as an individual player," said Darvish per MLB.com. "I just have to go out there and throw my pitches and pitch my game and do what I can to help the team."
Texas is clinging to just a half-game lead over the Cleveland Indians (82-70) in the Wild Card race while the Baltimore Orioles (81-70) aren't too far behind, trailing by just a game. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals are also hot on the trail, separated by just 2.5 games with an identical record of 80-72.
Geovany Soto is likely to get the nod at catcher for the Rangers tonight with Darvish starting. Third baseman Adrian Beltre has led the team in hits and ranks second in the majors and first in the AL with 186, while he's also hit .317 with 28 homers and 87 RBIs.
Moore, 24, has plenty of experience facing Texas as he defeated them in Game 1 of the 2011 ALCS as a 22-year-old rookie in Texas where he held them to two hits in seven innings.
Moore returned from the disabled list Sept. 3 and has a 0.61 ERA since his comeback.
Moore will need to be sharp as the Rays are hitting just .143 lifetime against Darvish and are an even 33-33 lifetime against Texas under manager Joe Maddon.
If the Rangers get to the ninth inning with a lead, they know they can turn to closer Joe Nathan with confidence as he's enjoying a great year. Through 60 appearances, Nathan, 38, has a 1.56 ERA and 39 saves with just three blown chances.
The Rays had a hero in Desmond Jennings Wednesday, as the outfielder came through with the game-winning RBI single in the 12th inning of Wednesday night's contest. On the season, Jennings is hitting .246 with 13 homers and 49 RBIs through 132 games.
With the season series, Wild Card positioning, and possibly home field on the line, the stakes couldn't be any higher when the Rangers and Rays close out their series tonight in Tampa Bay.
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