The Rangers are coming home for Game 3. Forgive them if they forget which dugout to sit in. If they show up late because they took a couple wrong turns, it will be understandable.
The Rangers have played one game in Arlington since September 25. That’s almost three straight weeks on the road. They played the last seven games of the regular season in Anaheim and Seattle. Two playoff games in Tampa Bay. Two in Baltimore. One in Arlington. Then two in Houston.
One home game. Thirteen away games. Stuck on the road like a traveling salesman with an impossible quota to meet.
But it’s been a very good road. The Rangers have yet to lose in the postseason. Now they come home for the next three. You hope they only need to play the next two.
So, welcome home, Rangers. It’s the ballpark on the southwest corner of Stadium Drive and Randol Mill. Looks like a big steel shed.
Max Scherzer takes the ball for them in Game 3. It will be the first game since September 12. He might need a GPS to locate the mound.
While the Rangers haven’t been at home in a while, they have been in this position before, up 2-0 in the Championship Series. In 2011, they took the first two from Detroit. But that was at home. They went to Detroit and won one of three, then came back home to wrap it up in Game 6. But this Houston team is in the middle of a dynasty, this being its seventh straight trip to the Championship Series. So, this series is far from over.
There are too many numbers about teams being up 2-0 after winning both games on the road, or teams starting a seven game series with two wins. Those numbers don’t matter because that was then, this is now.
The Rangers are back home for three, hopefully two. They have demons of the Astros last visit to slay. They have a future Hall of Fame on the mound. They have a lot of work to do.
But mostly, they have to find the place.
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