At last.
It took 10 innings and 388 pitches, and there were 24 base hits and nine walks, and the upshot of the four-hour game against the Rays was that, on a day when all 15 games started at roughly the same time, the Rangers finished the regular season playing baseball when nobody else was.
At least one member of the national baseball media believes this morning, as he has all year, that that will be the case in the post-season as well:
Casey Stern (@CaseyStern)
I’m sticking with what I had in March. The Texas Rangers will be the last team standing.
First step: Take on whichever of the last two teams to knock Texas out of the playoffs eliminates the other tomorrow night.
Games 1 and 2, Thursday and Friday, at Globe Life Park, times and team to be determined.
As well as a couple spots on the Rangers’ ALDS roster.
We care the way we do in hopes that we, as fans, get this opportunity. This is the return on investment. This is why.
Here we go.