SB Nation Dallas - Athletics vs. Rangers: Texas clinches playoff berth https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/48887/dallas-fave.png2012-09-28T09:01:27-05:00http://dallas.sbnation.com/rss/stream/31453472012-09-28T09:01:27-05:002012-09-28T09:01:27-05:00MLB Standings: Rangers 3 wins from division title
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<p>After recording a crucial 9-7 win over the Oakland A's Thursday, the Texas Rangers have built a four-game lead in the American League West and reduced their magic number for clinching the division to three. Oakland remains a potential spoiler, while the Los Angeles Angels can do no better than tie the Rangers at this point.</p>
<p>Even with their current lead, the Rangers are far from certain to take the division. In fact, their schedule will do its best to keep things interesting. Texas opens a three-game set with the Angels Friday, as Los Angeles desperately tries to remain in the playoff hunt.</p>
<p>In the meantime, Oakland begins a six-game homestand with a visit from the less-than-daunting Seattle Mariners Friday. If the race remains in doubt after those two series, it will be decided on the field when Texas closes the season with three games at Oakland.</p>
<p>Even if they fail to win their division, the Rangers are virtually assured of making the postseason.</p>
<p>In the worst-case scenario -- the Rangers lose all six games, while the Angels and A's win their six -- Texas would face the Angels in Anaheim in a play-in game with a chance to win the second wild card spot.</p>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/baseball/mlb/standings/index.html">The full MLB standings are available at SI.com</a>.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/28/3421020/mlb-playoff-standings-2012Patrick Vint2012-09-27T16:25:56-05:002012-09-27T16:25:56-05:00Rangers move AL West lead to 4
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<figcaption>Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire</figcaption>
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<p>The Rangers got three RBI from Mike Napoli and six innings of seven-hit ball from pitcher Matt Harrison as they clinched their third consecutive post-season berth with a 9-7 win over Oakland Thursday. </p> <p>The <a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Texas Rangers</a> got six innings from starting pitcher <span>Matt Harrison</span>, allowing four runs – all earned – on seven hits, as the Rangers outlasted the Oakland A's 9-7 Thursday in Arlington, Texas.</p>
<p>The Rangers (92-64) clinched their third consecutive post-season berth with the victory, and now set their sights on their third-straight AL West crown. They lead the A's by four games, and the win reduced their magic number to three.</p>
<p>Oakland went into the four-game series needing to win it, if not sweep, to stay in contention. Oakland (88-68) and Baltimore (89-67) are the top non-division leaders in the AL.</p>
<p>Texas was 6-for-11 with runners in scoring position, led by DH <span>Mike Napoli</span>, who was 2-for-4 with three RBI in the game. <span>Adrian Beltre</span>, who was 3-for-4 with a run scored.</p>
<p>The Rangers have a chance to clinch the division title as they open a three-game set against Los Angeles Friday. They travel to Oakland for a three-game series starting Oct. 1 – the last series of the regular season.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/2012/9/27/3419710/rangers-vs-athletics-final-score-wild-card-recapNeal Coolong2012-09-27T08:21:22-05:002012-09-27T08:21:22-05:00Rangers look for series split versus Athletics
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/">Oakland Athletics</a> inched closer in the standings to the AL West division-leading <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Texas Rangers</a> by jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. The A's earned the 9-3 win on Wednesday night, and Texas will look to salvage a series split on Thursday afternoon.</p>
<p>Rangers starter <span>Martin Perez</span> only lasted ⅔ of the first inning prior to getting pulled, but not before he allowed five earned runs and six hits in a lead Oakland wouldn't relinquish on the night.</p>
<p>With the victory, the Athletics -- currently owners of one of the two AL Wild Card spots -- crept to three games behind the Rangers in the AL West entering Thursday and grabbed the 8-7 overall lead in the teams' head-to-head season series.</p>
<p>In need of a quality start, Texas will send <span>Matt Harrison</span> (17-10, 3.17 ERA) to the hill to face Oakland's <span>Travis Blackley</span> (5-3, 3.75 ERA). In his last appearance, Harrison took a tough loss after going eight innings and allowing only one earned run on Sept. 22 at the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lookoutlanding.com/">Seattle Mariners</a>.</p>
<p>First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. CT at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, and can be seen on Fox Sports Southwest.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/27/3416840/texas-rangers-vs-oakland-athletics-game-time-tv-infoGriffin Gotta2012-09-26T22:52:07-05:002012-09-26T22:52:07-05:00Unable to pick up pitching, Texas falls 9-3 to A's
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<p>After splitting the first two games of their four-game series against the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/">Oakland Athletics</a>, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Texas Rangers</a> fell to <span>Jarrod Parker</span> and the A's 9-3 on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>21-year-old <span>Martin Perez</span> started the game for Texas, but the young southpaw was unable to escape the first inning. Perez allowed five runs on six hits before being pulled by manager Ron Washington.</p>
<p>Opposing Perez was the rookie Parker. Like Perez, Parker found himself in trouble early in the game, but the 23-year-old was able to escape before the Rangers were able to hit themselves back into the game. The righty allowed three runs on five hits in six innings of work while whiffing eight Rangers on the night.</p>
<p>With the Rangers down early, manager Ron Washington took advantage of his expanded bullpen by saving his top relievers and instead using several young relievers to patch up the remainder of the game.</p>
<p>Texas will now be looking to split their four-game series against Oakland on Thursday, which would also help the team extend its division lead to four games.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/26/3415554/as-vs-rangers-final-score-recapRonit Shah2012-09-26T18:27:31-05:002012-09-26T18:27:31-05:00Darvish progressing, could pitch before Sunday
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<p><a href="https://www.lonestarball.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Texas Rangers</a> pitcher <span>Yu Darvish's</span> neck soreness regressed quite a bit between Tuesday and Wednesday, meaning the hurler could return before his next scheduled start, <a href="http://rangersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/yu-darvish-on-schedule-for-sunday-could-pitch-earlier.html/" target="_blank">according to Evan Grant of DallasNews.com</a>.</p>
<p>Darvish was originally scheduled to make starts Tuesday and Sunday of this week, but he was scratched from the former with a stiff neck. While he appears to be on track to make his Sunday start, Rangers manager Ron Washington hasn't ruled out sending Darvish to the mound before that:</p>
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<p>"It's just a consideration. We have to see how he is. Right now, he's on schedule for Sunday."</p>
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<p>Having Darvish pitch before Sunday would allow the entire Rangers rotation to have an extra day of rest down the stretch, which would be key for a team that is trying to lock up a postseason berth. Texas's magic number to clinch the AL West sits at five entering Wednesday night's game, while its magic number to earn a postseason berth of any kind is three.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/26/3414456/yu-darvish-injury-update-texas-rangersBryan Kilpatrick2012-09-26T16:54:14-05:002012-09-26T16:54:14-05:00Rangers' Moreland back in lineup on Wednesday
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<p>The <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Texas Rangers</a> will look to rebound from a 10-inning loss to the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.athleticsnation.com/">Oakland Athletics</a> as the two teams get set to play Game 3 of their four-game series on Wednesday night in Arlington, Texas. First baseman <span>Mitch Moreland</span>, who is 4-for-7 at the plate in his last two starts, is in the lineup after sitting out for most of Tuesday's game.</p>
<p>Here are the full lineups:</p>
<p><b>A's</b></p>
<p>1. <span>Stephen Drew</span> SS<br>2. Jonny Gomes LF<br>3. Yoenis Cespedes CF<br>4. Chris Carter DH<br>5. Brandon Moss B<br>6. <span>Josh Donaldson</span> 3B<br>7. <span>Josh Reddick</span> RF<br>8. Derek Norris C<br>9. <span>Cliff Pennington</span> 2B</p>
<p><b>Rangers</b></p>
<p>1. <span>Ian Kinsler</span> 2B<br>2. <span>Elvis Andrus</span> SS<br>3. <span>Josh Hamilton</span> CF<br>4. <span>Adrian Beltre</span> 3B<br>5. Nelson Cruz RF<br>6. <span>Michael Young</span> DH<br>7. <span>David Murphy</span> LF<br>8. <span>Mike Napoli</span> C<br>9. Mitch Moreland 1B</p>
<p><span>Martin Perez</span> (1-2, 3.78 ERA) will take the mound for the Rangers. The 21-year-old lefty recently returned to the starting rotation for the first time in a month, and allowed three earned runs in four innings his last time out. Meanwhile, <span>Jarrod Parker</span> (11-8, 3.40 ERA) gets the ball for Oakland. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. CT.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/26/3414060/as-vs-rangers-lineups-moreland-back-in-at-1b-for-texasBryan Kilpatrick2012-09-26T13:48:04-05:002012-09-26T13:48:04-05:00Texas sends Perez to mound in crucial AL West game
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<figcaption>Ronald Martinez - Getty Images</figcaption>
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<p>Texas sends rookie Martin Perez to the mound in a crucial September game against second-place Oakland.</p> <p>In his first turn as a member of the rotation, Texas rookie <span>Martin Perez</span> only went 4 innings in a 6-3 loss to Seattle on Sept. 21.</p>
<p>But with <span>Scott Feldman</span> having to be used on Tuesday after <span>Yu Darvish</span> had to miss a start, the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> really have no one else to use but the 21-year-old rookie.</p>
<p>Oakland will be sending a rookie of their own to the mound on Wednesday: 23-year old <span>Jarrod Parker</span>, who has an 11-8 record with a 3.40 ERA in 169 innings this year.</p>
<p>The A's, who are still four games back of the Rangers, need a win on Wednesday to keep their chances of winning the AL West alive. But no matter what happens this season, if Parker and Perez can maintain their current statistics, they'll be facing each other as division rivals for years to come.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/26/3412886/texas-rangers-vs-oakland-as-game-time-tv-infoJonathan Tjarks2012-09-26T12:37:52-05:002012-09-26T12:37:52-05:00Rangers still up 4 games in the AL West race
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<p>There's been a lot of dramatics -- <span>Adrian Beltre's</span> walk-off HR on Monday, <span>George Kottaras</span> solo HR in the 10th on Tuesday -- in the first two games of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.lonestarball.com/">Rangers</a> series with the A's, but the end result is the status quo in the AL West.</p>
<p>Texas, with a 91-63 record, is still four games ahead of Oakland at 87-67. </p>
<p>As a result, both teams may be looking past the division race.</p>
<p>For the Rangers, the big concern is the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/">New York Yankees</a>, at 89-65, who are still in the mix for home-field advantage in the AL. For the A's, the worry is the LA <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.halosheaven.com/">Angels</a> (85-69) and the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.draysbay.com/">Tampa Bay Rays</a> (84-70), two veteran teams stocked with playoff experience who are desperately trying to get back into the AL wild card picture.</p>
<p>Either way, Texas should be in good shape, as long as they at least split the next two games in Arlington.</p>
https://dallas.sbnation.com/texas-rangers/2012/9/26/3412482/mlb-standings-2012-playoff-raceJonathan Tjarks