Tonight at 8:10 p.m., the Texas Rangers (83-69) will travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals (80-72) in Kauffman Stadium, as KC tries to hang on to their slim hopes of a wildcard berth in the American League playoffs. Live stream the game here; Rangers fans can hear the game on 103.3 ESPN, while Royals fans can tune in to KCSP 610.
The Rangers enter play tied with the Rays for the wildcard lead, placing them both in the postseason as of now. Kansas City is three games behind both clubs, but can make a tremendous statement with this three game stretch. To make it in they will still need to leapfrog the Baltimore Orioles and Cleveland Indians, but not all hope is lost.
"We've got a lot of guys in here that believe we can do it," first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "When you've got guys that are fighting for one goal and doing anything we can to win ballgames, it's real fun to come to the field and play every day, and that's what we're doing."
Kansas City will turn to Ervin Santana (9-9, 3.23 ERA) tonight whose record appears mediocre, but has hidden a fine season of pitching. After getting tough-luck no-decisions for much of 2013, he hit the skids a bit. He snapped that slide, in his last outing which bodes well for the Royals going forward.
"Everything was working pretty good," Santana said. "I threw a lot of strikes and most of the time ahead in the count. That was the key."
The Rangers counter with Martin Perez (9-5, 3.64 ERA), who returned to the rotation well into the season after a spring training broken elbow. "In September, it's a big month for us. When you like to compete, it's easier when the games are big," Perez said. "There is no pressure. I just do what I have to do and throw strikes."
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