Start of the playoffs.

So Josh Hamilton got the first base hit of the ALDS just a few minutes ago in the bottom of the first inning.

Unfortunately C.J. Wilson coughed up a two-run home run to Johnny Damon in the top of the second just now.

Hope the offense has their bats ready.

Go Rangers!

96!

The Rangers 3-1 victory last night over the Angels finalized their season record at 96-66. Starter Matt Harrision turned in an acceptable performance and Mike Naopli knocked in all three Rangers runs.

The win also moved the team past Ivan Rodriguez, shown here on his 2001 SP Piece of the Action card, and the rest of the 1999 squad. The 2011 club now stands alone as the having the most wins in franchise history. That leaves the 1999 team in second and the 1977 squad in third. Very nice achievement.

In addition to a franchise record, the win last night also gave the Rangers home field advantage for the American League Divisional Series. That will start tomorrow at 1600 in Arlington. The red hot Tampa Bay Devil Rays will be coming in fresh off their upset of the Yankees last night. Both teams are hot and both are hungry. This will be an interesting series. Hope to see a repeat of last year.

Kinsler, Rangers win.

The Rangers ended up not facing Ervin Santana last night. Angels manager Mike Scioscia shut Santana and Jered Weaver down for the season. Scioscia says that he didn't want to risk injury to his top two pitchers in the final days of a season that won't see Anaheim in the playoffs.

The Rangers took advantage of Santana's absence as they pounded the Angels 10-3 to keep their one game lead over the Tigers intact. The win also moves the 2011 club into a tie with the 1999 team for the most wins in franchise history. Either a Rangers win or a Tigers loss in the last game of the season will ensure that Texas starts the ALDS at home on Friday.

Texas had plenty of home runs in last night's game. Ian Kinsler, Adrian Beltre, Mike Napoli, and Nelson Cruz all went deep. Mike Napoli had two on the night. At one point Beltre, Napoli, and Cruz went back to back to back with long balls. Additionally Kinsler and Mitch Moreland also hit doubles. Good to see the offense getting tuned up going into the playoffs.

Also good to see Ian Kinsler, shown here on card number 185 of the 2008 Goudey set, steal third in the fourth inning. That steal punched his second ticket to the 30/30 club. It seemed fitting that he homered and stole a base in the same game. With his totals sitting at 32/30 Ian is looking at a banner year. The 32 home runs are the most he has ever his in a season and the 30 steals are one short of his all-time best. He is also having one of his best years on defense. Congratulations Mr. Kinsler on your second induction into the 30/30 club.

Tying 1977.

Texas beat Anaheim last night to stay one game up on Detroit for the second best record in the American League. The win was the team's 94th of the season. That ties them with the 1977 club for the second most in franchise history. One more will tie them with the 1999 squad for the most in franchise history. I wouldn't mind seeing them stand alone with the most wins ever. That's unlikely though with the two remaining games of the season being in Anaheim against their number one and two pitchers. Probably need to win at least one of those to stay on top of Detroit.

Adrian Beltre's home run, Elvis Andrus' four hit night, and Mark Hamburger's first major league win were what stole the spotlight last night. I found those to all be great news but I was following two less glitzy stories.

The first is Ian Kinsler's attempt to get back into the 30/30 club. Unfortunately he was unable to steal a base last night and so his season totals are stalled at 29/31. Two more games to swipe a bag. Let him run I say.

The second saga that I am keeping tabs on is Michael Young's chase of Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera is currently leading the American League in batting average with a .343 average - that with a three hit game last night. Michael, shown here on card number 124 of the 2004 Bowman set, had one hit last night and his average currently stands at .338 - tied for second with Adrian Gonzalez. A couple of good games and Mike could catch Cabrera and win his second batting title. It would be nice to see him do so but it's a long shot with the way Cabrera hit Cleveland pitching last night.

One up on Detroit and one base to go.

Well, the Rangers sent a patchwork lineup against the Mariners on Saturday as most of the regulars got the day off. Manager Ron Washington even pulled starter Alexi Ogando after just two innings.

In spite of facing Felix Hernandez, the Texas subs came up with a big win as they downed Seattle 7-3. Meanwhile Detroit lost to Baltimore. That put the Rangers by themselves as the second best team in the American League. If they can hang on to their lead over Detroit that will give them home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Yesterday several of the regulars were back for the final home game of the regular season and the fireworks really went off. Derek Holland allowed a Seattle home run as did Darren O'Day out of the bullpen. Yorvit Torrealba single-handedly answered for Texas as he knocked a pair of long balls, one of which was a grand slam. Adrian Beltre and Ian Kinsler both homered as well to help bring the final score to 12-5 Rangers.

Ian Kinsler, shown here on card number 218 of the 2008 Upper Deck set, also stole two bases in yesterday's game. That brings his season total to 29. Couple that with his 31 home runs and he is on the verge of his second 30/30 season. 2009 was his first. If he can steal just one more base against the Angels in the last three games of the season he will be there. You can bet that Ron Washington and Gary Pettis will be looking for a chance for Kins to run.

Along with Ian Kinsler's 30/30 chase the Rangers are also looking to stay ahead of Detroit in the win column. Since Texas is headed to Anaheim and Detroit is playing Cleveland at home that could be kind of tough.

Two reasons to celebrate!

Double celebration today. When I went to sleep last night the Rangers had already closed out their win against the Mariners in Arlington. Anahiem and Oakland were still playing out west though. The Rangers victory dropped their magic number to one. A divisional crown was within reach if the A's beat the Angels. Let's go A's!

Got up this morning and headed downstairs. Checked the mail on the way to the computer. Card box! From Brian at Play at the Plate. This box was the result of a long worked on trade between us and was packed with wantlist fulfilling goodies. Included was an entire base team set of the 2011 Topps Lineage Rangers. Card number 62, shown here, featuring Adrian Beltre was included in the lot. Since Adrian started the Rangers scoring last night I thought it was very appropriate that his card was included in the package. In addition to this card there were at least a hundred and thirty five other cards that filled holes in my collection. That knocked a ton of cards off my lists and completed four team sets. If that weren't enough, Brian also included a couple of game-used and a couple of autographed cards that fit extremely nicely into my collection. Very impressive. Thanks a bunch Brian! Please let me know if you are ever interested in another trade.

After exclaiming loudly over the box from Brian I switched on the computer and checked the scores from last night. A's win! Rangers clinch the A.L. West crown! Awesome news! Now the fight for home field advantage in the first round. Texas is currently tied with Detroit for the second best record in the American League. Detroit won the season series though so the Rangers need to be at least one game better to get the home field for the first round of the playoffs. Great to be in the position of thinking about things like that.

Nolan knew.

Some of you might remember a post from March of this year where I talked about Nolan Ryan's prediction of the Rangers 2011 season. Ryan, shown here on card number BBC45 of the 1992 Baseball Cards Magazine set, had said that he thought that the Rangers would win 90 to 95 games and would win the division. He wasn't discounting the A's or Angels but thought that Texas would pull it out.

At the time I asked if anyone had any comments on the prediction. Mr. Napkin Doon was full of hope and looking forward to full years from Kinsler and Cruz. At least he got a full year from Ian.

LoCoDe commented that Nolan pretty much had to predict positive things in their opinion. They also thought that the Rangers would drop off a bit to maybe 86 wins.

Well, the night before last the Rangers won their 90th game of the season. With six left to play their record stands at 90-66. I would be pleased but very surprised if the team wins all six of the remaining games but I also doubt they will lose all six. Even a 3-3 record will put them squarely in Ryan's prediction window. With the magic number down to two and a five game lead it is also looking more and more like the division crown belongs to Texas again.

Apparently Nolan knew his stuff!