Rangers seem for real

Uh, what's up with the Texas Rangers?

Aren't they supposed to wilt in the Texas heat?

Aren't they supposed to go away?

Don't the Rangers know that the American League Wild Card is predestined to come out of the AL East?

Guess not.

The Rangers just took two out of three in Anaheim and are poised to overtake the Red Sox for the lead in the Wild Card.

This means the Rays have to pass two teams in the Wild Card race, the slumping Red Sox and the surging Rangers.

It's not enough the Rays have to deal with the Yankees and Red Sox. Now they have this team out West, too.

The good news for the Rays is they have six games remaining with the Rangers, starting with a three-game series at the back end of the Rays next homestand. They don't return to Texas until the last weekend in September.

The bad news is the Rays follow the Rangers into Anaheim, where the Rays start a three-game series Monday night. The Rays haven't won a series in Anaheim since the 1999 season. They have won once in their last 11 games in Anaheim.