Rangers Magic Number

Rangers Out-Frustrate Oakland, Davis

Magic Number: 3

Wednesday night's game spent most of the evening as the kind of that makes a fan want to kick something. C.J. Wilson had the stuff, getting 13 swinging strikes from the best team in baseball at avoiding whiffs, with eight strikeouts and just five hits allowed. Unfortunately, he faced the sworn nemesis of the Texas Rangers, umpire Gerry Davis and his wandering strikezone. The questionable zone drove up Wilson's pitch count, keeping him to just six innings, and helped produce three walks. One of those walks extended a fifth inning which saw Oakland eke out two runs to take the lead.

At that point, ex-Ranger Brand McCarthy was "cruising." By cruising, he was getting the Rangers to hit balls to fielders when runners were on. Through the first seven innings, six Rangers reached safely with no outs, and the only one who scored did so on a Mike Napoli double play. McCarthy only had one strikeout to his name, but the Rangers -- and the luck dragons -- were bailing him out and wasting opportunities, and the eighth inning began in a game that felt like a slow death march of frustration. The sort of game that feels really awful when your team doesn't have a five game lead in the division with eight to play.

Fortunately, instead of being a mostly-meaningless loss, the heroes of the Rangers came through to add another attractive win to the resume. The Rangers' bullpen Cerberus of Koji Uehara, Mike Adams, and Neftali Feliz ended the game with three no-hit innings, with only Feliz managing some relative struggles with long at-bats and a walk allowed. In the eighth, the Athletics made the strange decision to pull McCarthy after just 79 pitches, and Ian Kinsler launched a home run off of Grant Balfour to tie the game, followed by the game-winner from Josh Hamilton. Two bullets to take the game from frustrating to awesome in a matter of moments.

With the victory, the 2011 Rangers have tied 1996 and 2010 for the third most victories in franchise history, and are a 5-2 finish to the season from tying 1999 for the most; very doable against the Athletics, Mariners, and Angels. More importantly, it moved the magic number to three, a tiny number that could be wiped away before the Cowboys play again. And perhaps most importantly, it kept the Rangers tied with Detroit for homefield in the first round of the playoffs; with the Tigers owning the head-to-head tie-breaker, falling back a game would be like giving them a two game lead with seven to go.

This also marks the first time the Rangers have ever produced back-to-back 90 win seasons. With two of the best seasons the team has ever put forth strung together -- and another one high on the list in 2009 -- a World Series appearance previously, another playoff appearance forthcoming, and a still-fantastic farm system, we are certainly in the midst, or perhaps at the beginning, of the golden era of Texas Rangers baseball.

It's fun to take a moment and appreciate that.

GAME CHARTS

FanGraphs Win Expectancy

Biggest Contrubtions (What is this, I don't even. . . ?)

1. Ian Kinsler 32%
2. Josh Hamilton 21%
3. Neftali Feliz 18%

Gerry Davis's Strikezone from Brooks Baseball

Ian Kinsler, Josh Hamilton Homer Late For Rangers In Win Over A's

The Rangers entered the day five games ahead of the Angels and toting a magic number of four. A win by LA put the pressure on, since Texas doesn’t want to enter their final series in Anaheim needing wins to clinch the division. They answered the bell, salvaging their eighth win in nine games on the strength of late home runs by Josh Hamilton and Ian Kinsler.

C.J. Wilson lasted six innings and allowed two runs but was on the hook for a loss until the pair of solo shots in the eighth. Koji Uehara, Mike Adams and Neftali Feliz finished the job with three scoreless innings, and the Rangers moved their magic number to three with seven games remaining.

Wilson also struck out eight to raise his season total to 206, the first time a Rangers pitcher has surpassed 200 strikeouts since Nolan Ryan in 1991. The club also notched their 90th win, matching their 2010 total.

Rangers Stay Hot, Top A's 7-2 Behind Derek Holland

Derek Holland has been a frustrating figure for Texas Rangers fans, but he appears to be turning the corner at the right time. Holland won his 15th game of the season and lowered his season ERA to 3.92 with another strong seven inning performance, as the Rangers jumped out early on Rich Harden and cruised to a 7-2 win in Oakland. Holland allowed two hits and three walks, striking out seven and giving up one run on a solo home run.

The Texas offense kept hammering – another 14 hits tonight – as everyone in the lineup reached base. Michael Young led the way with three hits, including his 200th of the season. Adrian Beltre got Texas going with a three-run shot in the top of the first, his 28th of the season, while Josh Hamilton and Mike Napoli each had two hits of their own.

Texas continues to lead the West by five games after the Angels bounced back to beat the Blue Jays 10-6 in Toronto. The magic number in the division is down to four. The Rangers also have created a little cushion by leading the wild card leading Red Sox by two games, and they caught the Tigers in the standings. Because the Tigers won the head-to-head series with the Rangers this season, Texas must finish with a better record to gain the higher seed.

Game 2 of the series in Oakland is scheduled for 9:05 Wednesday night with old teammates and rivals C.J. Wilson and Brandon McCarthy opposing each other. The Rangers have beaten McCarthy in their last two matchups, one in August and one 12 days ago in Arlington.

Michael Young Reaches 200 Hits For Sixth Time

Michael Young entered Tuesday night’s series opener in Oakland with 198 hits, needing just two more in his team’s last nine games to reach the milestone 200 hits for the sixth time in his career. He only needed one of those games. Young’s three hits helped Texas hold their division lead over the Angels and added another achievement to his impressive offensive career.

Young first played a full season in 2002 and reached 200 in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Down years in 2008 and 2010 kept him just shy, while an injury limited him to 135 games in 2010. He would have made it easily that season if he’d participated in his usual 155+ games.

He’s back on the horse in 2011, currently batting .333 at age 34. This hits brought his career total to 2049 in 1660 games. Young is a career .303 hitter. Young started the day seven points behind Adrian Gonzalez in the batting title race. Both had three hits, so the margin is still seven points.

Rangers Look To Move Closer Towards AL West Crown Against A's

The Rangers look to reduce their magic number, currently at five, on Tuesday night as they take on the Oakland A's.