Rays at Rangers Tonight

Tonight the Texas Rangers host the Tampa Rays in a one game playoff with the winner becoming one of ten teams in the Baseball tournament.

It evokes Ed Asner’s great character “Axel’s” remark in “Rich Man Poor Man,” concerning his wife’s “religious,” attitude. Getting up from the marital bed of the 1950’s, he leaves saying there are “two saints in this bed, one too many for him.”

That is how I feel about the number of teams in baseball’s post season as there are way too many and so little reward is given to the teams that did the best during the 162 game schedule.

Anyway, play they will, and Texas hopes to eliminate the Rays from the playoffs for the third time in four seasons.

The Rangers prevailed in division series vs the Rays in both 2010 and 2011, clinching the series at Tampa.

The winner of tonight’s game visits the Cleveland Indians in the American League “play in” game on Wednesday night.

Cleveland won their last nine games while Texas won their last seven. The Rays, who had won 7 straight to take a two game “qualification” lead into the final weekend, lost the first two games at the Jays (Toronto Blue Jays) and had to hold on for dear life in winning the finale by a (7-6) score.