The Texas Rangers open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night, with first pitch set for 8:40 p.m. and MacKenzie Gore scheduled to start for Texas against Merrill Kelly. For a club sitting at 72-75 with 15 games left, that makes this more than another stop on the schedule.
Texas is still in the hunt, but barely. The Rangers are three games behind the Houston Astros in the AL West and two games back of the Cleveland guardians for the final AL wild card berth, which means they have ground to make up and almost no margin left for another flat week. Fans looking for Rangers Vs Diamondbacks can stream Texas on BZZR and the Diamondbacks on DBacks.TV.
The case for urgency is not hard to see. Texas has not won a road series since the All-Star break and is 6-16 in its last 22 road games, a stretch that has turned every trip away from home into a test the Rangers have mostly failed. Friday brings another one, and the only thing that protects their season is winning while the teams ahead of them keep slipping.
Corey Seager is one reason the Rangers are still talking about the postseason at all. He has four home runs in his last seven games, a run that includes Thursday’s 0-for-4 showing against Seattle, and he has been carrying enough of the offense to keep Texas within reach. His surge has not solved the bigger problem, though, because the Rangers have been more likely to flash than to stack wins together.
That is the contradiction hanging over this series. Texas has spent much of the season looking like an average team, and the standings still leave room for a late push, but the clock is working against it now. If the Rangers are going to turn the chase into something real, they have to start on Friday night and keep going after that.
