The Rangers will head to Seattle to wrap up their season with a three-game series against the Mariners, and while neither team will be playing in the postseason, the M’s front office was pleasantly surprised by the team’s turnaround. After needing to win their final three games of 2008 just to avoid having baseball’s worst record, Seattle played well enough in ’09 to earn every coach an invite back for next season.

A huge reason for their success has been a lethal combination of pitching and defense. Seattle’s pitching staff is anchored by Cy Young candidate Felix Hernandez and they  lead the A.L. by a wide margin in team ERA, while also ranking first in MLB in almost every defensive metric imaginable. So the reasons for their turnaround are obvious, but one thing that isn’t quite as clear is who should be the team MVP. Hernandez, who the Mariners are trying to lock down long-term, is an obvious candidate. But so are Franklin Gutierrez and recently reactivated Russell Branyan, both of whom had breakout seasons.

Ken Griffey Jr., on the other hand, might have to fight for a chance to play again after he posted some ugly numbers this season. Veteran Mike Sweeney might be in the same boat. And even 25-year-old Brandon Morrow, who the Mariners picked over Washington-native Tim Lincecum in the 2006 Rule IV Draft, is starting to look more like Chad Gaudin than Lincecum.

Game one will get underway tonight with Ian Snell on the mound for Seattle. Snell, who was acquired from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, has put up a rock-solid 5-2 record to go with his 4.17 ERA since the move. Snell’s first start in a Mariner’s uniform came against Texas back on August 2, when he lasted six innings of three hit, two run baseball.

Ryan Rowland-Smith will make his eight career appearance against the Rangers in game two, although it will be his first time as the starter. His 10.2 career innings against Texas isn’t a huge sample size, but an 0.84 ERA is an ominous sign for Ranger bats. On the season, Rowland-Smith is 4-4 with a 3.91 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

The season will wrap up Sunday afternoon against Felix Hernandez. Among A.L. pitchers, Hernandez is second in ERA and wins, fourth in strikeouts, and third in innings pitched — though he’s just 0.1 innings behind Justin Verlander for second. The Rangers’ efforts against him this year have been an exercise in futility to this point. In five starts against Texas, Hernandez is 3-1 with a 2.31 ERA.

But the A’s rally fell short, and the Rangers’ bullpen imploded. Darren O’Day, C.J. Wilson, and Frank Francisco faced 11 batters and recorded only two outs, while the Angels picked up a pair of insurance runs and turned to Brian Fuentes, who locked down his 45th save of the season.

So here we are. The Rangers are six games back with seven to play, and they absolutely have to sweep the Angels to keep their playoff hopes alive.  And it’s not one of those, “They need a sweep or it’ll be tough to get in,” kind of things. It’s more like this: if the Rangers don’t take all four in L.A., they’re mathematically eliminated.

But there’s a sliver of hope. Though the Angels are on the cusp of setting franchise records for offensive prowess led by Kendry Morales’ breakout season and Howie Kendrick’s excellent September, the bats are struggling at the moment. And when a team which has relied on offense all year stops hitting, they stop winning. So at least the Rangers have that going for them.

The series gets underway tonight with Earvin Santana on the mound for L.A., and while his 5.46 season ERA — not to mention a rough four inning, five run outing against Texas way back on July 8 — probably looks good to Ranger fans, Santana has looked more like the 2008 version of himself since the trade deadline. Over the last two months, Santana is 4-2 with a 3.62 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

Game two will be another attempt by Scott Kazmir to prove that his dominance of the Rangers is transferable anywhere. Kazmir, who has owned Texas throughout his career, blanked the Rangers for six innings on September 18 and only came out because of a high pitch count. That was the final game of that four-shutouts-in-five-tries unpleasantness a few weeks ago. Kazmir has seen his season ERA drop nearly a full point since joining the Angels in late August, going from 5.92 to 5.06.

Then there’s Jered Weaver, who will suit up for Wednesday’s game three. Weaver leads the Angels in strikeouts (169) and is tied with Joe Saunders for most wins (15), and he’s seemingly righted his season again after a rough July and August, owning a 3.58 ERA in five September starts. But Weaver has earned losses in three consecutive starts, and there are questions as to whether or not he’s healthy.

The finale will, fittingly, feature John Lackey, who could be making his final regular season start in an Angels uniform. Lackey produced one of the most memorable moments of the year when, in his first start of the season, he was ejected after two pitches for throwing at Ian Kinsler back on May 16. Since then, Lackey’s pieced together another strong season, going 11-8 with a 3.77 ERA thus far. But he’s struggled against the Rangers this year, owning a 6.75 ERA and 1.73 WHIP in four starts.

For now, the Rays’ future is third baseman Evan Longoria, whose strong finish to the season has some wondering about his MVP credentials. Tampa is also hoping Ben Zobrist can maintain his personally unprecedented performance next year after posting a 7.4 WAR season. But history’s not necessarily on his side, and he wouldn’t be the first former Rays All-Star to see a drop off after a career year.

Tampa Bay’s future success could hinge on their ability to find a true ace to anchor a solid pitching staff, whether they acquire one — like Felix Hernandez — or develop one. David Price was supposed to be that ace, and nearly everybody had him ranked as the game’s top prospect prior to the season. But a concerningly bad slider and mediocre results have taken some of the luster from the Vanderbilt product and left some to wonder whether he’ll ever be a top notch starter. The good news for Rays fans is that Price, who will start the finale on Sunday against the Rangers, has posted a 3.41 ERA since July 31 and has shown marked improvement on his slider. And between Price, Matt Garza, James Shields, AL Rookie of the Year candidate Jeff Niemann, and newcomer Wade Davis, the Rays are stocked with five quality starting pitchers aged 27 or younger.

Texas’ first task will be facing staff veteran James Shields tonight. At 27, Shields still has plenty of baseball ahead of him, but he’s already amassed three 200+ inning season, including back-to-back 215 inning efforts in 2007 and 2008. Yet despite the fact that he hasn’t missed a start since being shut down in late 2007, Shields hasn’t faced the Rangers in two and a half years, making his career marks versus Texas pretty worthless. Shields doesn’t walk a ton of batters — 50 in 204.2 innings — but he’s allowed the third most hits of any pitcher in baseball, behind only Nick Blackburn and Cliff Lee.

Game two will have a foe with a more familiar face, righty Matt Garza, who will be making his third start in three months against the Rangers. While Garza’s first start in Arlington back on July 5 didn’t go so well — 5 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB — he fared better at home in August, allowing three runs on six hits in seven innings. Cumulatively, Garza had 14 Ks in 12 innings. For his career, Garza is just 3-2 against the Rangers, but he owns a 3.20 ERA and a K/9 ratio of 9.15 in six starts.

Sunday’s game will feature the aforementioned David Price, also facing Texas for the third time since July. And, much like Garza, Price did better the second time around. In Arlington, Price lasted just 61 pitches — which got him all of four outs — allowing six runs on three hits and five walks. In Tampa Bay six weeks later, Price found his rythym a bit more while surrendered three runs on three hits and three walks in seven innings.

Now we know better. And with Texas’ playoff hopes seemingly wilted and only a few weeks until they’ll spend a long October at home, they’re allowed a hypothetical do-over. But, in truth, they probably wouldn’t trade for Roy Halladay or Cliff Lee to anchor the pitching staff, or Victor Martinez or Nick Johnson to curb their bouts of offensive anemia. And quite frankly, those guys might not have been enough anyway.

My guess is the Rangers would go back to September 4 and swap schedules with the Oakland Athletics. That was the day Oakland hit rock bottom following a 6-3 loss to the Mariners that pushed the Athletics to a season-high — or season-low — 17 games under .500. The Rangers, meanwhile, pulled within 3.5 games in the division and 2.0 in the wild card chase after a 5-1 victory in Baltimore. Since then, the A’s have won 12 of their last 14 and seven straight to move to 71-78 on the season, while Texas owns a 5-9 record over that stretch, being shut out in five of their nine losses.

So if anyone has Doc Brown on speed dial, now might be a good time to speak up.

If not, we’ll move on. Because, postseason or not, the Rangers still have 14 games remaining, starting with a four-game series with those pesky A’s that gets underway tonight. Oakland’s 12-2 record since September 5 is the best mark in MLB over the last two weeks, and they’ve predominantly done it the anti-A’s way: with plenty of offense. Oakland is averaging 7.2 runs per game in their 12 wins, significantly above their 4.6 season average, despite lackluster play from in-season acquisition Scott Hairston.

Hairston has been dealing with a quad injury since being sent north from San Diego, and Rangers fans could see him spelled by a few recent callups including the familiar Travis Buck and 28-year-old rookie Matt Carson.

On the mound, the first two pitchers Texas will face should look awfully familiar. Edgar Gonzalez will make his second straight start against the Rangers after holding them to a run in just four innings of work back on September 15. On the season, Gonzalez’s ERA is 4.74, but he’s been much better at home, allowing two runs over 10 innings in two home starts this year.

Trevor Cahill will face the Rangers tomorrow less than a week after he one-hit them for seven innings his last time out. Cahill has had his share of struggles as a 21-year-old rookie this season, so much so that some feel he’s not ready for the majors just yet. But Cahill loves facing AL West opponents, owning a 2.43 ERA in nine intra-division starts, including a 2.70 ERA in three starts against Texas.

Righty Clayton Mortensen will follow on Wednesday, making just his fifth start and sixth appearance at the ML level. Mortensen, who the A’s acquired as part of a package for Matt Holliday in June, has struggled thus far, earning a 6.12 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP for the season. But his last two starts have been much more impressive, allowing just three earned runs in 11 innings against the Twins and Indians.

The A’s will send out a third consecutive rookie for the finale Thursday in the form of lefty Brett Anderson. Anderson, like Cahill, will be making his fourth start of the season against the Rangers, but he’s been less successful than his fellow blue chipper. Anderson is 0-1 with a 4.86 ERA against Texas this year, and on average has only lasted 5.1 innings per start.

The struggles have been well-documented — four straight losses while plating only one run against mediocre competition. It’s been so bad that Brett Tomko, who had all of one shutout in nearly 1800 career innings prior to Monday, was able to blank the Rangers while feeling the effects of nerve damage that will keep him out the rest of the year. Even for a team that’s struggled at the plate all year, it’s been surprisingly difficult to watch.

But the Angels have faltered of late as well. Before a comeback win last night in Boston, LAA had lost four of five, including a controversial 9-8 loss in Fenway on Wednesday that left the Angels steaming and several coaches possibly facing disciplinary actions. And while Thursday’s victory has slightly quelled concerns for the time being, there’s still plenting of complaining and questioning and strategizing going on, leaving the Angels faithful to ask one question.

What would Darin Erstad do?

The pitching match ups don’t bode particularly well for the Rangers, starting tonight with old foe and Texas native Scott Kazmir. While with Tampa Bay earlier this year, Kazmir was great against the Rangers (2.92 ERA; 1.05 WHIP) and completely awful against everyone else (6.29 ERA; 1.60 WHIP). Since joining the Angels, Kazmir has looked more like his old self, going 19.1 innings in three starts while posting a 1.86 ERA. The only head scratching statistic for him with his new team? Kazmir’s 5.92 ERA in Tampa earned him an 8-7 record, but he’s 0-1 in Los Angeles.

Texas will see Jered Weaver in game two, a pitcher they’ve actually hit well despite his solid season. In four starts against the Rangers, Weaver was knocked around for 16 runs in 27.2 innings, with most of the damage — 10 runs in 13.1 innings — coming in Arlington. Weaver will also have the task of facing Texas’ toughest starter, righty Scott Feldman.

The finale will be a rematch of one of the happier afternoons in recent Ranger memory, when Derek Holland shut out the Angels in Anaheim to pull Texas within 3.5 games in the West. Holland will take the mound again for the Rangers, albeit with quite a few more question marks about his recent performances. And again, Holland will have to face the tough veteran John Lackey, who’s been back to form as the Angel’s ace since late August. In his last four starts — including two complete games — Lackey is averaging 8.4 innings per start and has an immaculate 0.80 ERA. The Rangers might take solace in learning of Lackey’s 7.15 season ERA against Texas, but unless the bats wake up, it won’t make a difference.

Andrew Bailey has been a big part of their recent success, saving three of their five wins and setting an Oakland rookie record for saves with 24. Bailey’s case for the AL Rookie of the Year award might be hampered by the A’s subpar season, but all the credentials are there, especially after he was named AL Rookie of the Month for August.

Bailey is just one reason why the pitching, as expected, hasn’t been the problem in Oakland. CF Rajai Davis has been electric in earning himself a regular role in the outfield, but he’s one of the few things offensively that A’s fans have to get excited about. Scott Hairston cooled off when he got to Oakland, and Matt Holliday got hot when he left. The defense, although much better of late, has contributed to the A’s allowing the 4th most unearned runs in the league. And it’s all combined to get Oakland mathematically eliminated from postseason contention with their next loss, which could come as early as tonight.

For their own sake, the Rangers hope it does.

Game one will feature veteran Brett Tomko against Rangers’ ace Scott Feldman as he goes for his 17th win of the season. Tomko’s numbers have been markedly better since he was released by the Yankees and signed with Oakland, posting a 3.90 ERA and 1.16 WHIP while going 3-1 in five starts. His career numbers against the Rangers aren’t nearly as impressive. In 13 appearances, including five starts, Tomko has a 7.94 ERA and a WHIP near two.

Texas will then face a few unfamiliar faces on the mound, with Edgar Gonzalez and rookie Clayton Mortensen slated to start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. Gonzalez, who spent his entire career as a National Leaguer until this year, has faced the Rangers only once. That start, which came on May 29 of this year, was unkind to Gonzalez as he allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks in just five innings. His poor showing pushed him into the bullpen, where he stayed until a spot start against the Royals on September 1.

Mortensen, 24, was acquired as a part deal that sent Matt Holliday to the Cardinals, and in three starts with Oakland he’s gone 1-2 with a 6.88 ERA. Although struggles aren’t uncommon for young hurlers, the fact that his AL walks (8) have exceeded strikeouts (6) is a good sign for Texas. For the season at triple-A, Mortensen was 9-8 with a 4.39 ERA.

Seattle will finish up a ten game road trip with a weekend series in Arlington, where they’ve lost six of seven games this year, and despite the fact that it’s only been a month since the two teams met at Rangers Ballpark, quite a bit has changed for both teams. Vicente Padilla is no longer in Texas, and Michael Young and Josh Hamilton are both hurt. For Seattle, Brandon Morrow is back in the rotation, while Jason Vargas and Garrett Olson are out. Erik Bedard was moved to the 60-day DL in August and young lefty Luke French, who’s struggled since being acquired for Jarrod Washburn at the deadline, was moved to the bullpen to make room for Morrow.

Despite their ever-changing pitching staff, Seattle’s managed to maintain the best ERA in the A.L, but the offense ranks dead last in the league in runs scored and plated only five in three games against the Angels this week. Although their playoff chances are likely gone, M’s fans can take solace in the facts that Franklin Gutierrez has been terrific and, as usual, Ichiro is going for another 200 hit season. On the more unfortunate side, they’ve been haunted by Kenji and Kenny G.

And with the Red Sox and Angels facing shrinking magic numbers, the Rangers have to be sure this series won’t come back to haunt them at season’s end.

Game one will mark the return of Brandon Morrow, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since his July 10 start in Arlington. That game, combined with two relief appearances in May, has left Morrow with nine earned runs in just 5.2 innings against the Rangers this season. Despite his 5.28 ERA and 1.78 WHIP for the year, Morrow has been much better as a starter (4.55 ERA) than a reliever (6.38 ERA).

Saturday, rookie Doug Fister will pit his 2.79 ERA against Texas for the first time in his career. In two September starts, Fister shut the Angels down for a run in 7.1 innings, and followed that by going five innings and again only allowing one run in Oakland. Through 38.1 ML innings, Fister’s numbers greatly resemble those put up by fellow Mariner Jason Vargas earlier this year, which could be good news or bad news for Texas as Vargas posted lines of 5 IP/5 H/1 R/2 BB and 5 IP/7 H/ 5R/ 1 BB in his two starts against the Rangers this year.

Felix Hernandez will get the start on Sunday on the heels of two appearances in which he’s allowed one earned run in 15 innings. For the season, Hernandez is 2nd in the A.L. in ERA, 4th in strikeouts and innings pitched, and 5th in wins. He’s a bonafide ace. And he’s going against another 23-year-old, Tommy Hunter, who has allowed at least three runs in every start since August 12. That could make the first two games all the more important.

Cleveland began the season with playoff aspirations, but their disappointing run has left manager Eric Wedge unsure of his job security and fans wanting to clean house and look to the future.  They’ve lost Grady Sizemore for the year, which some thought should’ve happened months ago, and their pitching staff has allowed the third most runs in the majors.

Yet despite their struggles, Cleveland has gone 25-22 since the All-Star break and already knocked one playoff hopeful off course by taking two of three from the Twins over the weekend. So, with Texas preparing for a nine game homestand against AL West foes starting Friday, a series win isn’t just important anymore. It’s essential.

Game one will pit the Rangers up against 22-year-old Carlos Carrasco, who made his unmemorable ML debut on September 1. Carrasco, who was one of the prospects the Indians landed for Cliff Lee, lasted just three innings in Detroit, allowing three runs on nine hits and three walks. Baseball America rated him as the 51st best prospect to start the season.

The Indians will follow with lefty Aaron Laffey, whose tendancy to let runners on (1.44 WHIP) hasn’t hurt his 3.36 ERA, which would rank him seventh in the AL if he had enough innings to qualify. Laffey lasted 6.2 shutout innings in Arlington on August 11, but he’s allowed 12 runs — 10 earned — in 24.1 innings since.

The finale will have another familiar face in Fausto Carmona, who only has one win since May 14. Carmona’s last start against the Rangers was much more successful than his first — two runs in six innings — although he still owns a 6.55 season ERA against Texas.

The Orioles, meanwhile, don’t have much left to play for these days, except maybe avoiding their first 100 loss season in 21 years. After starting the year 6-2, things got ugly quickly for Baltimore, who limped into the All-Star break with a 40-48 record and have gone 14-32 since. They lost their ninth straight contest to the Yankees a few days ago, star CF Adam Jones could miss the rest of the season, and Dave Trembley might be ready to snap.

So what’s the biggest issue for the Orioles? A pitching staff that owns a cumulative 5.05 ERA, good for dead last in MLB. The Rangers will face two starters, LHP Brian Matusz and RHP Chris Tillman, that have a total 71 innings between them, while the third starter, veteran Jeremy Guthrie, has the fourth worst ERA among qualified ML pitchers. Add that to the fact that the bullpen will be filled with recent callups after having been a mess all year, and the Rangers would seem to have an easy three-game series in Baltimore on their hands.

But there might be a few problems…

Tillman and Matusz aren’t just any rookies. They were ranked 22nd and 25th respectively on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list in February, bookending Justin Smoak (23) and ahead of Derek Holland (31). Tillman was acquired alongside Adam Jones and since departed George Sherrill in the Erik Bedard trade of 2008. Ranked as Baltimore’s second best prospect heading into the season, the 21-year-old has struggled to keep the bases clear (1.44 WHIP) but owns a very respectable 4.24 ERA in 40.1 innings.

Matusz, 22, was the 4th overall pick in the 2008 draft, but hasn’t fared as well as Tillman so far. Since being called up just after the trade deadline, Matusz has allowed opponents to hit .328 off him while posting a 5.28 ERA and 1.73 WHIP. Despite the struggles, Matusz’s 31 strikeouts in 30.2 innings are indicative of his superb stuff, and he’s coming off an excellent 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K performance against the the Indians, easily his best as a major leaguer.

RHP Jeremy Guthrie, slated to start Sunday, has been bad. Expected to anchor Baltimore’s rotation this season, Guthrie owns a 5.18 season ERA and has already allowed 30 — three oh — homers in 160 innings. Braden Looper of the Brewers is the only pitcher to have allowed more.

The offense, while not awful, has been below average. Baltimore is 9th in the AL in runs scored, SLG percentage, and OPS. But they hit for a high average — 4th in the AL — thanks mostly to guys like Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts, and rookie Nolan Reimold. Losing their center fielder to an ankle injury won’t help things, but the late blooming Felix Pie has done his best to pick up the slack and could be a tough out this weekend.

The Jays’ fall really started back in July, but it hasn’t been helped by the drop off that ace Roy Halladay has experienced of late. Since the trade deadline passed with him still north of the border, Halladay has gone 2-4 with a 4.71 ERA and pushed himself out of Cy Young contention. The collapse has even left Jays fans wondering whether the things that have gone right are simply a fluke — like Aaron Hill — and questioning what went wrong.

So not only is the upcoming series between Texas and Toronto a vital one for the Rangers, who have fallen 3.5 back in the wild card race, but it’s seemingly one they should dominate as well.

While the Rangers won’t have to face the struggling Halladay, they will start the series off by seeing a couple of rookies on the mound for the Jays. Despite a 5-3 record, 23-year-old Brett Cecil has been bad of late, posting a 7.11 ERA in August and failing to record more than 13 outs in any of his last three starts. Texas then gets another first year lefty, 24-year-old Marc Rzepczynski (zep-CHIN-ski), who’s been good since being called up in July. Rzepczynski’s 3.58 ERA go well with his 51 strikeouts in 55.1 innings, and despite his lack of fanfare as a prospect, he might just be a left-handed Brandon Webb.

Yet another lefty, veteran Brian Tallet, is slated to start game two of Tuesday’s double-header. Although he’s been relegated to relief work for the last two weeks, Tallet absolutely dominated the Rangers back on June 9 with a 7 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 0 R performance.

The Rangers will finally draw a righty Wednesday in the form of native Canadian Scott Richmond who, in his first full season at age 30,  is 6-7 with a 4.32 ERA and a good K/9 rate of 8.21. His solid rookie campaign has been marred only by his propensity to give up home runs, as evidenced by his April 23 start against Texas in which the only runs he allowed in six innings came on a pair of solo homers. For the season, Richmond has allowed 17 home runs in 106.1 innings, meaning he might not mix well with Arlington.