Rangers Fighting Losing Battling with Multiple Teams for Wild Card Spot

The National League playoff picture is starting to shape up much clearer than what the American League is right now. There are multiple teams who have locked in their spots including the Milwaukee Brewers and the Philadelphia Phillies, but the AL is in a much different position. There isn't a single division leader with more than a four-game lead and multiple teams are in contention for a wild card spot.

It is hard to imagine that either the Tigers or the Toronto Blue Jays won't take home their division titles, but anything is possible. The Blue Jays would nearly have to lose out to get bumped all the way out of the wild card, so for arguments sake let's just assume that they are in.

The last wild card spot is currently owned by the Houston Astros or the Boston Red Sox, who are tied. But they're not far behind the New York Yankees, who have the top spot. To say there is very little room for error would be an understatement. Before the opener with the Miami Marlins the Rangers found themselves four games behind the Red Sox. Friday's loss only made it worse.

The Red Sox have dropped back-to-back series and are now going into a much more brutal stretch than what the Rangers. The Red Sox finish up at home against the Tampa Bay Rays before going on a road stretch that nobody would want to embark on with the playoffs on the line. They start off going into the belly of the beast that is Rogers Centre in Toronto before heading to Detroit to finish out the season.

The Rangers however are back in Arlington to take on both the Marlins and the Minnesota Twins. The Marlins have some inexperienced starting pitchers taking the mound that Texas can capitalize on while the Twins are some 20-games under .500. If Rangers want to catch that bottom spot every game is going to count and they cannot drop a series, which means Texas must win Saturday and Sunday.