The teams with the two best records in the American League are face to face this weekend. The Tampa Bay Rays would like to make the point that there isn’t all that much distance between first and second.
The Rays held up their end of the argument on Friday night, defeating the Rangers, 8-4. The Rays (13-7) have been very good. The Rangers (15-5) had seemed semi-unbeatable, at least prior to Friday.
The Rays/Rangers match-up does not automatically ring bells as one of the game’s great rivalries, but lately, it’s been front and center. Tampa Bay has been a postseason qualifier three of the last four seasons, but Texas has won the AL pennant the last two. In both of those years, the Rangers eliminated the Rays in a Division Series.