ARLINGTON, Texas – The number crunching three outs into Game 2 of Sunday's Texas Rangers doubleheader against Los Angeles had to have Rangers' fans concerned.
After losing a heartbreaking 5-4 decision in Game 1, the Rangers were on the verge of seeing their lead in the American League West trimmed to one game if they didn't rally from a 4-0 hole.
Forget about winning the West. The Rangers would have headed to Oakland for the final three games with work to do just to secure a wild-card spot.
That's not an issue anymore though, thanks to Derek Holland's ability to rebound from a disastrous first inning and Mike Napoli's continued ability to destroy his former team as the Rangers rallied for an 8-7 victory.
The win clinched a wild card for the Rangers and has them headed to Oakland needing to win just one of the final three games to wrap up their third consecutive West division title. The Rangers also still have a one-game lead for best record in the AL, which would get them home field until the World Series.
While the Rangers finished their final home stand 3-4, they head west riding high.
"It was huge," said third baseman Adrian Beltre. "The first game was a little devastating for us. Getting behind in the first inning 4-0 and being able to come back, it was huge for us. We don't want to have to go to Oakland to win two and win the division. It's not done yet but it's a lot easier.
Holland rebounded from the four-run first by pitching into the seventh. By the time he was pulled the Rangers were leading 8-7 thanks to two homers and six RBIs from Napoli.
The bullpen cleaned things up for Holland, with Joe Nathan getting the save a few hours after blowing one in Game 1 of the doubleheader by allowing two runs in the ninth inning.
Securing a playoff berth wasn't easy but the Rangers knew they would be able to bounce back from Game 1 and the first inning of Game 2.
"You would think there would be a letdown but because these guys take each game for what it is, there is no letdown," Texas manager Ron Washington said. "They come out there and they try to play the best they can every single day. Yes it was a tough loss the first one, but they came back out and battled. They fell down 4-0. It was no big deal. They just went out there and they put some good at-bats together and they played with a lot of energy, and Joe got a chance to redeem himself."
So did Holland. The Rangers had Roy Oswalt warming in the first after the Angels scored four times off Holland, with Mark Trumbo's two-run homer making it a 4-0 game. But then Holland didn't allow another run until the seventh.
By that time Napoli had done what he always does to the Angels. The Texas slugger, who came into the game 2 for 20 on the homestand, launched two home runs and added a two-run double on his way to matching his career high with six RBIs.
He followed David Murphy's solo homer in the second with one of his own and then gave Texas the lead for good with a three-run homer in the third to give Texas a 6-4 lead. He also lined a two-run double to center in the fifth for what proved to be the game-winning run.
Napoli has 12 homers against the Angels since he began playing for Texas and is hitting .396 against his former team.
Napoli didn't care who he was batting against. He just knew the Rangers needed a win.
"I did something to help us win," Napoli said. "We needed to win tonight and it was a good feeling."
Holland also left feeling good despite his tough first inning. He got two outs in the seventh before Howie Kendrick blasted a three-run homer off him to make it a one-run game. Holland's 12th victory was far from a thing of beauty – 12 hits, seven runs – but it was good enough on a night that started anything but.
"I continued to turn things around," Holland said. "I continued to fight. I continued to give my team a chance to win. They kept putting up runs and I kept shutting them down for a while. I continued to keep that boxing mentality. I took the blow and kept going out there and kept grinding."
Nathan was also able to grind after throwing 28 pitches in the first game and getting charged with just his third blown save of the year.
He was back out for the ninth and worked around a one-out walk to Torii Hunter to get the final outs and send the Rangers to the postseason. It capped a long afternoon of baseball that started at 12:05 p.n.
It was also well worth it. For now.
"We've still got a lot of work to do," said Nathan. "One win away from our division, but we've still got to stay atop of the American League. As much as we want to celebrate this win tonight, really it was just a quick sip of champagne and said we made the postseason, but let's get on a bird and do our job over in Oakland."
