Tuesday, September 17, 1996

Rangers heading west to try to sew up banner
By JAIME ARON
Associated Press

ARLINGTON - Having retired Nolan Ryan's number before a nine-game trip to the West Coast, the Texas Rangers could return home to another ceremony: hoisting the AL West banner.

Texas opened its final road trip of the season Monday night in Seattle against the Mariners with a six-game lead and a magic number of nine.

Four games in the Kingdome will be followed by three in California and two in Oakland before the Rangers return to The Ballpark for the season's final three games, also against the Angels.

Somewhere along the way, Texas hopes to put aside 25 summers of frustration to reach the postseason for the first time in franchise history, becoming the last AL team to do so.

The Rangers have almost survived a seasonlong Collapse Watch, outlasting predictions their rotation wouldn't hold up, their lineup had holes and that if they got past those weaknesses, then they'd wilt in the summer heat.

Instead, Texas has been in first all but four days this season and their division lead reached a franchise-best nine games Wednesday.

Then, a mini-collapse began and it seemed as if the Rangers of old were back. After one particularly bad game, Mickey Tettleton asked manager Johnny Oates what charity he should donate that night's salary to because he hadn't earned it.

As ugly as the slump was, it lasted only four games. That's it. Texas' longest losing skid of the season began Wednesday and ended Sunday with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.

"When you win a ballgame like this, everybody can relax a little bit," Oates said after the Rangers got back on track following a three-run sixth and two-run eighth.

"We know that playing for championships means dealing with pressure. Hopefully, by winning (Sunday), that puts a little bit more on Seattle and less on us."

A loss would have cut the lead to five games and made the four-hour flight to Seattle seem even longer. It also would have invited comparisons to last season's collapse by the California Angels and previous chokers, like the 1978 Boston Red Sox.

By winning, the Rangers went into the Mariners series knowing that even if they are swept, they'd still leave Seattle with a two-game lead. Winning just one game would send them to California with a four-game advantage.

On the bright side, a Texas sweep could set up a champagne celebration as soon as Friday.
"I'll take anything I can get," Oates said. "I don't want to say all we have to do is split. That's no good. We need to go in there and play well."

The Kingdome has been somewhat of a house of horrors for Texas. The Rangers are 1-2 there this year and were 1-5 there last year, including three straight losses in mid-September to virtually eliminate them from the playoff race.

This time, the Mariners are on the outside looking in. They're the ones who have used four straight wins to bolster hopes of snagging the wild-card spot.

"I know they're going to swing the bats," Oates said, "but I believe we'll match up well against the pitching we'll be seeing."