It wasn’t exactly Kirk Gibson huge, but a gimpy Carlos Gomez came off the bench for a pinch-hit double that was the key to the Rangers 3-1 win.

Two Rangers can barely walk, let alone run. Yet both Adrian Beltre and Carlos Gomez played key roles in the Rangers 3-1 victory over the Mariners.

Beltre legged out the first run from third on a ground out to second. Gomez started the winning rally in the eighth with a two-run double, and his pinch runner came in to score the go-ahead run.

And with that the Rangers are still in the running for post-season.

Running being a relative term.

All of the wild card “hopefuls” are under .500 in September. Texas is 8-9, Minnesota is 8-10, Los Angeles is 7-9, Seattle is 8-9, Kansas City is 8-10.

Which means, the Rangers have gained a whopping one-half game on the Twins in the last nineteen days.

Imagine Adrian Beltre in a foot race with Carlos Gomez. Then, for good measure, strap a couple hundred pounds of weight around each of them.

That’s the race for the wild card.

*****
TODAY’S GAME:

Andrew Cashner (9-10, 3.40) vs. Felix Hernandez (5-4, 4.19)
Game time: 9:10

How the Rangers hit against Hernandez.
How the Mariners hit against Cashner.