There may be no better feeling for a team at this stage of the season than to know that they are in control of their own destiny. Teams that are in a playoff spot right now certainly fall into that category, but some teams will have a harder job to hold onto it than others. The Texas Rangers are in that group, and they will try to hold on to their Wild Card spot when they finish up a 3-game series in San Diego on Wednesday night where the Rangers are -115 favorites on MLB lines.
A Closer Look at the Texas Rangers at San Diego MLB Odds and Game Preview
Date: Wednesday, September 02, 2015 Time: 10:10PM ET Venue: PETCO Park Opening Line: Rangers -115
#TradeDeadline deal, @Dutch_Oven45‘s return have @Rangers in contention: http://t.co/DflXG8Qaaf #PuttingItAllTogether pic.twitter.com/pJdO9CntGy
— MLB (@MLB) August 31, 2015
It is something of a good news, bad news scenario for the Texas Rangers (68-62) right now. They have a slender 1 game lead in the Wild Card race, which is not particularly great, but they are also seeing many of the challengers fall further and further off the pace. The Rangers are doing a good job of killing some of those potential challengers off, which is what they may have done to the Baltimore Orioles over the weekend by sweeping them in 3 games.
After this series, a trip to LA to face the Angels could well put them in position to hurt another one of the challengers. If Texas is to hang on, they are going to have to do it without Josh Hamilton, at least for the most part. Hamilton will be limited in how much he plays the rest of the way, but given that he has spent a majority of his time in Texas on the DL, it’s not a huge loss. Cole Hamels (8-8, 3.69 ERA) seems to have found his groove, and will look to make it 3 wins in a row on Wednesday.
The San Diego Padres (64-67) must be glad to get home after spending all last week on the road and only having a 2-4 record to show for it. The fact that 2 of those losses came against the struggling Philadelphia Phillies tells you all you need to know about the kind of season it has been in San Diego. This was a team that was supposed to be a legitimate challenger, but who have just not got enough out of the big name signings they brought in last offseason. It’s simply now a matter of seeing out the rest of the season before deciding what changes have to be made in order to get better next year. One guy that likely isn’t going anywhere is Ian Kennedy (8-12, 3.94 ERA) He has been magnificent in the second half, and he will be on the mound for the Padres on Wednesday night.
