RANGERS PITCHING GETS JOB DONE; WIN 4-0

The Rangers finally looked like a contender in this series with the Rays as timely hitting and excellent pitching came together for a 4-0 win this afternoon. Next stop is New York to take on the Yankees. Let's hope they can build on the momentum of today's victory to stay strong in hopes for the playoffs

- Way to go Scott Feldman!!! He really had his stuff working today as he striked out a career high 11 strikeouts today, the most by a Rangers pitcher in the past 10 years. O'Day came in the 8th and continued the pitching domination by striking out the side. This is the pitching that we need to ride if we want to make it to the postseason.

- For the third game in a row, the Rangers had a pitcher to 1st base throwing error. I am not sure how to correct this, but it is disturbing trend that you hope gets corrected soon...

- Michael Young is still Mr. Reliable as he gets 2 more RBI's on a base-line hit into right field. You can always seem to count on Young to make something happen when he is at the plate.

- Newest addition Pudge made a difference (once again) at the plate and caught a nice game. If he keeps hitting like this, he's going to fight his way into more playing time. He also added a key sac fly in the ninth to give the Rangers an important insurance run.

The Angels acutally lose today, and the Red Sox don't play until tonight so we will have to wait until then for the final standings for the day, but for now here is where we stand:

AL WEST
Angels --
Rangers 5.5

AL WILD CARD
Red Sox --
Rangers 1.0
[standings updated to reflect the Red Sox loss to the Yankees last night]