The Texas Rangers, who subscribe to the theory that "every day is game day", are gearing up for the make-or-break series of the 2006 campaign this weekend.
The Swingin' A's are coming to town, with their 7 game lead over the local heroes and a legit hot streak going (7-3 in their last 10). The Rangers, fresh off a topsy-turvy road swing which saw them make hay against the mighty Tigers and get pounded by the lowly Devil Rays, counter with a bunch of youngsters on the mound and an offense which is struggling to avoid flat-lining.
Tonight, young Edinson Volquez take the hill against Barry Zito. That's not the mismatch it appears to be. Volquez has shown a bit this year, both in OK City and during his most recent swim through the bigs, and the Rangers seem to have finally figured Zito out this year.
Saturday sees Eaton vs. Joe Blanton, while on Sunday we get Padilla vs. Dan Haren. Both of these games are also winnable.
Long story short, the Rangers NEED a sweep this weekend. Anything short of that probably puts a bullet into Texas' extremely slim playoff hopes. As evidenced by the fine work of the great Evan Grant in today's DMN, coming back from 7 games down this late in the season is near-miraculous, having been done only 5 times in the history of baseball, the most recent being the Bucky &%$#ing Dent Yankees of 1978.
By Monday, we'll know if this is going to be an interesting baseball Sept around here, or if were just in countdown-to-Cowboys mode as usual.
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