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Rangers AM News: Texas Clinches Playoff Spot

By Christian Blood

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5. 126. Final. 3. 102

The Texas Rangers still have work to do in order to win the American League West division, but the club clinched a playoff spot with win over Los Angeles.

Forget those recent collapses in the month of September.

The Texas Rangers are back in the American League playoff bracket following a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels that clinched at least one of the two AL Wild Card spots. Getting that detail taken care of early in this series leaves plenty of time to wrap up the AL West division crown, which was thought to be a near-impossible scenario when the season began.

When the only manager ever to take this club to the World Series suddenly resigned a year ago amid a 95-loss season, things didn’t look promising for the future of the Rangers.

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Throw in the pre-season injury to Yu Darvish and things looked even more dire.

Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has to be given tons of credit for making move after move this season in not only transforming a weak pitching staff, but also a batting order that really needed a boost from the right side.

Manager Jeff Banister had ownership of this team by mid-summer and basically everything done after the All Star break has been elite as Texas pushed its way to the top of the division by late September.

Starting pitcher Derek Holland, trying to break a late summer slump, was back to his productive self in the opener of this four-game series with the Angels. Holland allowed just 3 runs on 3 hits while striking out 6 Angels batters. He was relieved by Ross Ohlendorf in the 7th inning.

Lefty Jake Diekman and Sam Dyson took the game to the 9th inning where Shawn Tolleson picked up his 35th save of the season.

At the plate, you can’t say enough about the season an often injured Adrian Beltre has turned in. His 5th inning double with the bases loaded was really all the Rangers needed to log win No. 87 on the season – and that playoff spot.

Pitcher Martin Perez takes the hill for the Rangers tonight in game two of the series beginning at 7:05pm CDT.

Rangers News From Around The Internet

Rangers In Playoffs, Near AL West Title After Edging Angels (Sports Illustrated via Associated Press)

Complete breakdown of how the Rangers beat the Angels at Globe Life Park and clinched their first playoff spot since the 2012 season.

History Of Texas Rangers Postseason Appearances (Dallas Morning News – Staff)

Dallas Morning News staff recounts the history of the Rangers in the postseason. From the first trip back in 1996 to the back-to-back World Series appearances in 2010 and 2011, get caught up with this history lesson as Texas pushes into the AL postseason once again.

Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki Congratulate Rangers For Playoff Berth (DMN – Joshua Friemel)

Dallas Mavericks forwards Chandler Parsons and Dirk Nowitzki are among many throughout the nation to Tweet congrats to the Rangers for making the playoffs. Who were the others?

2011 Stars Lead Rangers Back To The Playoffs (Dallas Morning News – Evan Grant)

New faces like Shin-Soo Choo, Rougned Odor and Cole Hamels have played major roles in reversing last year’s disastrous season, but what members of the 2011 World Series lineup helped get Texas over the top down the stretch some four years later?

Why The Rangers Could Be A Tough Out In The Playoffs (Dallas Morning News – Tim Cowlishaw)

Whether it be the bullpen, the hot bats or overall depth, Cowlishaw discusses the numerous reasons that the Rangers could be a major problem for the major leagues during the ’15 playoffs.

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  • Published on 10/02/2015 at 11:01 AM
  • Last updated at 10/02/2015 at 08:53 AM
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