11:30: The home run pool is open. And it’s glistening under this strange yellow light up in the sky. I’m not sure what you would call it, but it’s not the usual gray we are used to.

Story of the Game

The vast majority of the fourth Rangers Ballpark sellout crowd of the season stayed to see if three runs – three runs – would result in their club’s first win since last Sunday afternoon. The 3-2 victory over the Angels followed some ninth-inning fielding strategy in which manager Ron Washington admitted going against the percentages … and also admitted he’d do it differently in the future.

The one-run lead came courtesy of a sixth-inning solo home run by 1B Hank Blalock, making his first start since Sept. 6 and only his third in the last 23 games. Washington left Blalock at first, Chris Davis at third and 11-time Gold Glover infielder Omar Vizquel in the dugout in the ninth. With Torii Hunter on first and one out against closer Frank Francisco, Kendry Morales hit a grounder to Blalock. He couldn’t field it cleanly, leaving runners at first and second. A double steal advanced the runners to second and third, after which Juan Rivera was intentionally walked to load the bases. Howie Kendrick hit a wicked grounder to shortstop, which Elvis Andrus turned into the game ending 6-3 double play.

Washington said he considered pulling Blalock in the ninth, moving Davis to first (here he has played excellent defense) and inserting Vizquel at third. “But I trust Hank,” he said. “I like Chris over there at third although Vizquel is better. It was a trust thing.” And would he handle it differently down the road, given what happened in the ninth? “Yes, I would,” he said.

Blalock started because Washington wanted a veteran lineup to try to jump start an offense that had scored only one run in the previous five games, all losses. And he wanted as many left-handed bats as possible against Angels RHP Jered Weaver, who came into the game holding right-handed hitters to a .205 batting average.

Blalock hit his 24th home run, his first since Aug. 8, in the sixth off Weaver to break a 2-2 tie. As for the ninth-inning error, he said: “It’s a 3-6-3 double play that’s supposed to end the game.”

But Andrus turned the game-winner, pulling the Rangers within 6.5 games of the Angels going into Sunday’s series finale at noon. And Andrus was on the receiving end of a spectacular force out to end the seventh inning on a submarine throw from 2B Ian Kinsler on a sharp grounder by Kendrick that got past RHP Darren O’Day. Where would O’Day rate Kinsler’s toss on the O’Day underhand scale? “I think I had my eyes closed,” he said. “I was so surprised that he even got to it. You can’t say enough about those two up the middle.”

Three Up

• The Rangers ended their 25-inning scoreless streak in the third inning on a dribbler by Davis to the left of the mound and eluded both Weaver and SS Maicer Izturis.

• RHP Scott Feldman notched his 17th victory of the season, holding the Angels to two runs in 6.2 innings. He should have three starts remaining – on the road against the A’s, Angels and Mariners – in his attempt to become the club’s fourth 20-game winner, the first since Rick Helling in 1998.

• Francisco got the save in the harried ninth, working his fourth consecutive game over five days. Lost in the recent offensive emergency is the fact that the Rangers’ bullpen has held opponents scoreless over the last 12.2 innings.

Three Down

• One of the Rangers’ better hitters throughout the season’s second half, David Murphy went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.

•  With the Rangers looking to add an insurance run in the seventh inning, Julio Borbon was picked off first for the third out.

• The electric atmosphere of Saturday night has been missing at Rangers Ballpark for a month, since the Red Sox were last in town.

Stat o’ Game

20: The number of Rangers wins in Feldman starts this season (20-8).

Player of the Game

Candidates: Feldman for coming back from his rough start last time out to win his 17th … Blalock for the game-winning homer … Kinsler for an overall strong fielding night and his 29th stolen base. He’s one steal and one homer away from coming the majors’ third 30-30 second baseman … any write-in nominations.

ARLINGTON - Expecting a packed house this evening. Michael Young and Josh Hamilton remain sidelined. Young didn’t take batting practice and said he’s unsure when he’ll return Hamilton is expected to resume baseball-related activities on Monday. Both will be on the trip to Oakland. And Kevin Millwood is scheduled to start Monday night’s opener of the four-game series against the A’s.

1. Julio Borbon DH; 2. Elvis Andrus SS; 3. David Murphy LF; 4. Marlon Byrd CF; 5. Hank Blalock 1B; 6. Ian Kinsler 2B; 7. Nelson Cruz RF; 8. Chris Davis 3B; 9. Ivan Rodriguez C.

Given the state of the Rangers’ attack, feel free to also hazard a guess at who scores their first run of the game and the inning just for recreational purposes.

About the AL West Race

Los Angeles: Before Friday night’s game, Angels manager Mike Scioscia sounded like he wasn’t sure DH Vladimir Guerrero could start after sitting out Thursday night’s game at Boston, the result of being hit in the left rib cage on Wednesday night. Guerrero ended an eight-game Ballpark homerless streak during a 2-for-4. In 96 career games in Arlington, he’s hitting .397. LHP Scott Kazmir finally got his first win as an Angel in four starts. His six shutout innings lowered his LAA ERA to 1.42.

On Saturday night, RHP Jered Weaver (15-6, 3.85) will try to improve his career record against the Rangers to 5-2. In five starts against them this season, he has a 4.88 ERA. He has won eight of his last 11 decisions and 12 of 16. He’ll be opposed by RHP Scott Feldman (16-5, 3.65). He pitched six-plus innings on Monday in the Rangers’ 9-0 loss to Oakland. In three previous starts this season against the Angels, Feldman is 2-0 with a 3.50 ERA.

About the AL Wild Card Race

Boston: The Red Sox continue to receive excellent starting pitching. RHP Clay Buchholz won at Camden Yards on Friday night with his eighth quality start in his last nine outings. Since Sept. 6, the Red Sox haven’t allowed more than three runs in their 11 games to go 9-2. C Victor Martinez had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 17 games. 3B Kevin Youkilis returned to the lineup on Friday night after missing three games with a bad back and went 0-for-4. CF Jacoby Ellsbury tweaked his groin in the top of the first, stayed in the game and should play Saturday night.

LHP Jon Lester (13-7, 3.29) will bring a 17-inning scoreless streak into Saturday night’s start. In his last 19 games, he’s 10-2 with a 2.02 ERA. In three career starts against Baltimore, he’s 3-0 with an 0.84 ERA. An Orioles lineup that had already traded 1B Aubrey Huff and lost CF Adam Jones to injury lost rookie LF Nolan Reimold for the rest of the season before Friday night’s game. Reimold, the A.L. rookie leader in homers (15), on-base percentage (.365) and slugging percentage (.466), needs surgery on his left Achilles’ tendon. On Saturday night, the Orioles will start RHP David Hernandez (4-8, 5.40). He has failed to get through five innings in five of his last nine starts.

If The Playoffs Started Today

Detroit @New York; Boston @Los Angeles

“I think the Cowboys playing Sunday is going to take away everything,” said Angels centerfielder Torii Hunter of Prosper. “It’s going to drain the Texas Rangers’ drive.”

“Nobody thought about the Rangers doing this. These guys have played great baseball, and now they’re going to get overshadowed.”

The Angels come in having salvaged the finale of a three-game series at Fenway to restore their lead in the A.L. West to 6.5 games. They’ve lost nine of 12 games against the Rangers so far this season, but Texas manager Ron Washington said he expects to see a different Angels team. One with a killer instinct. (They did watch “Troy” on the flat screen in clubhouse this afternoon.) Hunter agrees.

“We had the killer instinct; they just had a bigger killer instinct,” he said with a laugh. “They beat us down. That was a couple of months ago. Now we’re here. We have a different mindset.”

They go from traditional, frenetic Fenway to Arlington, where the Rangers haven’t played in front of a home crowd of 25,000 in a month and have faced rainouts, rain delays and atypically bad weather for more than a week. The three games against the Angels in May attracted almost 105,000, when the Rangers were building a lead in the division. When LAA came back through in late June having moved into first place, the three games pulled in about 65,000.

“Yes, there’s a lot of energy up there with the Red Sox,” Hunter said. “The Red Sox fans support their ballclub. Just like the Yankee fans. It’s a different breed of fan up there. I understand the energy, the atmosphere can pump you up and put you over the edge. But coming here is just as important. They’re right behind us. They’re playing good baseball … well, I don’t know about lately … but they’ve been keeping us going, keeping us on the edge of our seat the whole time.”

Said Angels manager Mike Scioscia: “These are tough games anywhere you play. Boston is a terrific team. Texas has a terrific club. It’s about what happens on the field, not the environment.”

About the AL West Race

Los Angeles: Angels manager Mike Scoiscia went with red-hot right-handed hitting 2B Howie Kendrick the last two games against right-handed Red Sox starters. In Thursday night’s series finale at Fenway, Kendrick homered off RHP Josh Beckett. In the ninth off LHP Billy Wagner, Kendrick singled in the winning run. He went 5-for-8 with three RBIs in the two games. In his last 13 games, mostly against lefties, Kendrick is 21-for-43 (.488).

Having taken a one-run lead in the top of the ninth, Scioscia stayed with set-up RHP Kevin Jepsen to open the ninth against right-handed hitting Jason Bay (struck him out), then turned to closer LHP Brian Fuentes to get his 42nd save in 49 chances.

The Angels are 3-9 this season against the Rangers, having lost all four previous series. On Wednesday, Rangers manager Ron Washington said the Angels will bring a different attitude, a killer instinct, this weekend. Not sure if that was part of the Angels’ aire in Boston. Before Thursday’s game, the umpiring crew acknowledged filing a complaint with MLB regarding the LAA staff’s behavior following Wednesday’s night emotional ninth-inning defeat.

The Angels will open the weekend series with LHP Scott Kazmir (8-8, 5.32). In three starts with the Angels, he has a 1.86 ERA in 19 innings, allowing 13 hits and six walks along with 14 strikeouts. Kazmir split two decisions against the Rangers this season while with Tampa Bay. In his only Ballpark appearance so far this season, he was pulled after 99 pitches through five innings though giving up only one run in a game the Rays trailed 2-1 and lost 3-1. Kazmir will be followed by RHPs Jered Weaver and John Lackey. DH Vladimir Guerrero – he of the .392 career Ballpark batting average and .707 Arlington slugging percentage – sat out Thursday night’s win with a bruised left rib cage after being hit by a pitch on Wednesday night.

The Rangers’ starter, rookie RHP Tommy Hunter (8-3, 3.23), comes off his first career complete game. That was the 7-2 opener of Sunday’s doubleheader against Seattle. The Rangers’ most recent victory. Way back when they were scoring runs. He has lost only one of his last eight starts. Hunter has never faced the Angels. After him, the Rangers will start RHP Scott Feldman and LHP Derek Holland (who shut out the Angels in August).

About the AL Wild Card Race

Boston: Having gone 7-1 on the homestand against Tampa Bay, Baltimore and LAA, the Red Sox will spend the next week and a half traveling to Baltimore, Kansas City and Yankee Stadium for their final trip of the season. C-1B Victor Martinez returned Thursday night from a two-game absence to extend his hitting streak to 16 games. CF Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .400 in his last 10 games. 1B-3B Kevin Youkilis missed the entire Angels series with back spasma but told reporters he’s ready to play Friday.

The Red Sox are 15-3 against the Orioles this season, 28-5 since the beginning of the 2008 season. RHP Clay Buchholz (5-3, 3.66) no-hit the O’s when he was a rookie. In his last six starts, he’s 4-0 and got a no-decision last time out when he gave up one run in seven innings against the Rays. In 9.1 career innings pitched at Camden Yards, he has allowed 12 earned runs. Buchholz will be followed this weekend by LHP Jon Lester and RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka. Boston starters didn’t allow more than three runs in any of the last 10 games. That hasn’t happened since June 2006.

The Orioles managed only four hits and two walks on Thursday night in being shut out by Rays rookie RHP Wade Davis. On Friday night, Baltimore will start RHP Jeremy Guthrie (10-14, 5.06). He leads the league in homers (30) and earned runs (98). He has been roughed by the Red Sox this season in all three of his starts against them. In 18 innings this season against Boston, he has allowed 25 hits, 16 earned runs and six homers.

If The Playoffs Started Today

Detroit @New York; Boston @Los Angeles

ARLINGTON - The tarp is on the field, and an afternoon drizzle is glistening off it because the lights are already on beneath the overcast. So what’s new? Until first pitch, which should go off on time, Josh Hamilton is backing off  baseball-related drills for the next couple of days and won’t return anytime soon, Jarrod Saltalamacchia will have surgery on Monday, manager Ron Washington told the team after Tuesday night’s loss that they’re the same group that got into playoff contention and batting coach Rudy Jaramillo had a sitdown with all of the hitters on Wednesday afternoon.

Hamilton, out for two weeks, said his back feels fine but his right glute is tight. No pain, but tightness can lead to pain. So he’ll stop swinging a bat after hitting off a tee and doing soft toss on Tuesday. He’ll keep working out and plans to reassess his situation on Friday. Asked if it’s possible he won’t return this season, Hamilton said he wanted to word his reply carefully and said, “I’m not counting on not playing.”

Saltalamacchia, who hasn’t been behind the plate since mid-August, decided Wednesday to have surgery on Monday in Dallas for his Thoracic Outlet Syndrome problem after meeting again with Dr. Greg Pearl. He said he made the decision after getting a second medical opinion and after talking to general manager Jon Daniels and manager Ron Washington. He plans to return to The Ballpark the weekend after for that final home series against Tampa Bay but doesn’t expect to travel with the team anymore this season.

The Wednesday afternoon drizzle and potential for heavier rain meant the Rangers didn’t take batting and fielding practice on the field for the ninth time in the last 11 days (counting off days) dating to the end of their series in Baltimore. Washington said he thinks that has a greater effect on his team than the opposition because of its overall youth: “They can’t just go in the [indoor] cage like the veterans and hit some soft toss. They’ve got to see it. They’ve got to sweat. They’ve got to take ground balls. They’ve got to do everything. Run the bases.”

Washington said he talked to the team after Tuesday night’s 6-1 defeat: “They’re the ones that got us this far. If we’re going to go further, it’ll be the guys in the clubhouse. They’re a good team. Always been a good team all year. Don’t doubt that. Trust each other.”

David Murphy said Jaramillo primarily reminded the hitters to get back to fundamentals and have confidence: “I think every now and then, it’s good to get together and just remind ourselves how talented of an offense that we are. Get back to the basics. Just get out there with a clear mind. Not worry about things that we can’t control.

“If you think back to the first game of spring training, we came out without a care in the world. We knew how talented we were. We knew we were going to get it done regardless of what team we were playing or what pitcher was on the mound. Over the course of 162 games, it’s easy to lose that mindset. Obviously, it’s not a good time of the year to do that.”

DH Julio Borbon; SS Elvis Andrus; LF  David Murphy, CF Marlon Byrd; 2B Ian Kinsler; RF Nelson Cruz; 1B Chris Davis; C Taylor Teagarden; 3B Omar Vizquel

According to the Athletics’ page on MLB.com, Cahill will be on an 80-pitch limit in this, his season finale. The 21-year-old rookie has allowed 26 home runs this season, a club record for rookies.

The Rangers, true to their star-crossed history, ignored it. And you know what they say: It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature.

When this season is officially put away for the winter, the ultimate reason it will be the 10th consecutive season without a playoff appearance is going to sting a lot. Like hard raindrops in a stiff, cold wind. It will sting not because of anything the Rangers did on the field. It very likely will be because of what they did to the field. In an effort to preserve the integrity of the home schedule – and to keep the gate money – the Rangers implored the hard-working grounds crew to somehow got the field playable enough for three games with Seattle on a weekend when nearly 9.5 inches of rain fell on Arlington. That they did is a testament to the grounds crew. That the Rangers played, though, is a testament to the business of baseball and nothing else.

The Rangers lost two of those three games and have been sleep-walking ever since. If they aren’t careful, they are about to step right off a cliff and out of what remains of the AL playoff races. Now, some four days after the flood, it’s at least worth considering whether the Rangers simply should have simply accepted the watery gift they received as a blessing and played the three games in Seattle at the end of the season when their roster was back at full strength.

The simple answer is no. Home games are precious, too, and they aren’t to be tossed about willy-nilly. The Rangers are 16 games over .500 at home – even after losing their last three. They are a .500 club on the road.

As always seems to be the case with this team, though, nothing is as simple as it sounds.

Even before the Rangers returned home to start a swing through the AL West that is to culminate with a three-game showdown against the Angels this weekend, the heavens were playing havoc with them. The Rangers sat through a long rain delay in Cleveland on Labor Day and rescheduled as part of a twi-night doubleheader the next day. That would allow the Indians, who are out of the race and in it for the money, to maximize their gate from a mid-week September game. It also meant the Rangers would have to play three times in 19 hours because the game following the hastily scheduled doubleheader was set for noon on Sept. 9. Amazingly, the Rangers swept through the three games, scoring at least 10 runs in all three and then headed home for the big homestand.

After an off-day, the Rangers arrived at Rangers Ballpark and sat through two and a half hours of delays before the game was called and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. On Saturday, with a crummy forecast, the Rangers somehow found enough of a window to start the game, but it began raining midway through a loss that included an hour long delay at the tail end. The doubleheader on Sunday, scheduled for noon, didn’t get underway until five. That will throw off your body clock a bit. The Rangers won the first game, but have scored exactly one run since. They simply look like a team that hasn’t recovered from a hectic week’s worth of scheduling and rescheduling.

They have fallen 5.5 games back in the wild card, their biggest deficit of the year in that race. They haven’t made up an inch of ground in the AL West race (a six-game deficit), even though Los Angeles has lost three of its last four.

“You are prepared to play every single day,” said OF David Murphy of the lost weekend. “It does get tougher, though, when you are constantly just sitting around the clubhouse. At the same time, Seattle had to deal with it, too. I’m not going to say that it didn’t affect us, but there are some things we need to learn to overcome. We’ve just been flat.”

So, now, in hindsight, it’s easy to question whether the Seattle series should have been played at all.

The biggest reason to say “yes” is financial. And financial reasons are a huge part of why the Rangers do anything these days, especially since MLB is holding a $15 million IOU from the troubled Hicks Sports Group.

Had the series, or any part thereof, been postponed, the Rangers only viable option was to play them in Seattle as part of the last series of the season.The Rangers would have been the designated “home” team for any makeup games in Seattle, but they also would have lost out on significant gate receipts. Staring a very austere offseason budget in the face, the Rangers need to make as much money as possible in September to avoid more drastic limitations.

Also, three doubleheaders in three days would have potentially had a negative impact on the Rangers’ readiness for the post-season. About that, we have this to say: Before the Rangers can concern themselves with what their chances in the post-season, they first have to qualify for the post-season. In hindsight, it seems like their best chance at qualifying for the post-season would have involved calling the weekend’s games as soon as possible, agreeing to play them in Seattle and waiting to get their roster back to full strength.

Shifting the entire series to Seattle, if necessary, wouldn’t have been nearly as burdensome to the Rangers playoff hopes as it sounds. First, there is every possibility that Michael Young and Josh Hamilton will both be back and both at full strength by then. Second, there is this mathematical equation: No games in Arlington + six games in Seattle in three days = Only one start against Felix Hernandez. Finally, there is the motivation. If the Rangers were still legitimately in the race come those three days, the Mariners, just looking to go home, would have approached the games with all the enthusiasm of getting a Swine Flu shot.

Instead, the Rangers did great work at getting the field in shape and at getting the games in on the dates that were originally scheduled.

Sadly, their reward may just end up being another October vacation.