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ARLINGTON – Wednesday dawned as the darkest day of the Rangers’ season to date, at least mathematically. Never further from a post-season invitation, and only 18 more chances to alter that.

With so much at stake in Wednesday night’s series finale against Oakland, circumstances again dictate the Rangers hand the ball to maybe their least likely contributor this season. Dustin Nippert’s name isn’t included when discussing top of the rotation starters or closers or gems for the future. The 28-year-old didn’t pitch for the Rangers until July 7, activated from the 60-day disabled list following a back injury that doctors struggled to identify and cure. Since then, he has become the staff’s 6-foot-8 version of duct tape – eating innings when necessary, starting on a day’s notice if needed.

Wednesday night’s start figures to be his most important outing of the season. “I don’t really want to think about it like that,” Nippert said Tuesday. “They need a starter, and they think I can do the job.”

He’ll start Wednesday night because of Kevin Millwood’s absence. It will be Nippert’s 10^th start this season along with six relief appearances, four of those for multiple innings. He has a 4.43 ERA in the nine starts, 3.95 overall.

An eight-day span starting in mid-July highlights his work this season as a pitching decathlete:

• After mopping up in the ninth inning of a 4-1 loss to Minnesota on July 18, he was needed the next night when the game went into extra innings. He pitched the 11^th and 12^th and got his first win of the season thanks to Ian Kinsler’s walk-off home run.

• Three days later, he was needed for a spot start in place of the flu-ridden Vicente Padilla as the Rangers tried to grab the wild-card lead from the Red Sox. Nippert gave them 5.2 innings, allowing only one run as the Rangers became the first club this season to sweep Boston.

• Four days later, Millwood’s posterior went out of whack in the second inning of his start at Kansas City. Nippert warmed up quickly, pitched five innings, and won for the third time in eight days.

Nippert was groomed as a starter by the Arizona Diamondbacks, who drafted him in 2002 in the 15^th round following a year at West Virginia University. At Double-A in 2005, he was the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year. The following season at Triple-A, he tied for the Pacific Coast League lead in wins.

In spring 2007, he pitched for a spot in the D-Backs’ rotation but lost out to Micah Owings. He was slated to return to Triple-A as a starter but was soon summoned back to Phoenix to help shore up the bullpen for most of the season. He worked two scoreless innings in the NLCS against Colorado.

Spring training 2008 presented another “pitch off” of sorts for a big-league spot, this one won by Brandon Medders. During the final weekend of spring after the clubs broke camp – on the day that his daughter was born – Nippert was traded to the Rangers for Class A pitcher Jose Marte.

“I went to the field, and Bob Melvin called me into his office,” Nippert said. “I knew something was going on. He told me congratulations first then, well, to the bad news.”

The 2008 season was divided between Arlington and Oklahoma City and included a trip to the disabled list with a foot injury. Health issues have plagued Nippert throughout much of his pro career.

In 2003, a tumor the size of a golf ball was discovered in the back of his right shoulder. In 2004, he underwent Tommy John elbow surgery that ended his season in the Texas League.

Nippert has an identical twin brother, Derik, who also became a pro pitcher and was drafted by Arizona. Who also had a tumor removed from his back (his was described as the size of a lemon). Who also had Tommy John surgery.

“The same doctor did both of the [tumor] surgeries,” Nippert said. “The doctor never really said anything that, because we’re twins we share the same abnormalities. I never really got into that with him.”

Dustin and Derik were teammates in baseball, basketball and football at Beallsville (Ohio) High School. In football, Dustin was the quarterback and Derik his favorite receiver: “We were taller than everybody out there, so I’d just kind of throw it up and let him go get it.”

Derik’s physical problems led him to leave baseball. He’s back home working with their father. They talk or text every day.

Nippert was sidelined this spring with a back injury that confounded the club’s medical staff. “Nobody could put a finger on it, so I had to do a broad spectrum of rehab to get the whole back there better,” he said. “I got a few cortisone shots. The second one, done under x-ray supervision, ended up getting right on the spot and it cleared up.”

Nippert spent much of the first half of the season rehabbing, only seeing his teammates when the club was in town. Activated July 7, he wasted no time and started that night in Anaheim. He provided 3.2 innings, and the Rangers rallied late to win and move into a tie for the Western Division lead. Now they look to him again as the Rangers cling to post-season hope.