Rangers' hopes rest with Wilson, Lewis

Tampa Bay's three-game sweep of Texas is nothing to incite panic. A playoff series between the Rays and Rangers would be different for at least three reasons.
One is that you would have to believe the Rangers will football jersey
possess a healthier lineup in October. No Nelson Cruz or Ian Kinsler, not much Michael Young in this series - that has to make an impact.
Two is that Game 3 would be played in Arlington if the Rays finish with the best record in the AL and the Rangers' record is third best among division winners.
Three - and this gets to the real heart of the matter when you talk about the Rangers and the playoffs - is that Tampa Bay did not face C. J. Wilson or Colby Lewis.
Texas saw the Rays' best. A rotation of David Price, Matt Garza and James Shields is probably just how manager Joe Maddon will line up his pitchers for the first round of the playoffs.
Price is their 15-game winning ace, just a stud rookie marking time in the bullpen two years ago when the Rays reached the World Series. Garza had a no-hitter earlier this month. Shields, though he has struggled this season, is an 11-game winner who dominated Rangers bats Wednesday and is the only Rays pitcher who owns a World Series victory.
While Cliff Lee would certainly pitch Game 1, just as he did Monday night at Tropicana Field, you won't be seeing Tommy Hunter or Derek Holland starting Games 2 or 3.
The magic has worn off Hunter's hot summer start. All those people three weeks ago who were saying, "Hunter doesn't have great stuff, but he just wins games," are now limiting their remarks to the start of that sentence. And Holland showed in his return Wednesday afternoon that his climb toward success as a major league starter has not yet begun.
Like it or not, assuming the Rangers' eight-game lead in the AL West doesn't vanish, the team is likely to advance as far in the postseason as Lewis and Wilson can carry them.
Imagine that.
Lewis was pitching in Japan at this time a year ago. Rangers fans, already excited about the 2010 season because of the young pitchers the franchise had on the horizon, did not have Lewis in their sights. In the Land of the Rising Sun, Lewis' career seemed surely to be setting.
As for Wilson, his spring training pursuit of Pittsburgh Steelers jersey
a place in Ron Washington's rotation was viewed as somewhere between an indictment of the team's starters and a self-serving rejection of his eighth-inning role.
Instead, the Rangers would not have a healthy lead in the West without Lewis' and Wilson's 20 victories as starters.
More wins will be needed in October.
The Rangers can't rely on Lee alone and, it should be obvious, can't expect wins in all of his starts, either. Texas is 3-5 when Lee takes the mound. The confidence his presence creates has not yet translated into victories, in part because of the poor defense behind him in recent starts against the Rays and Yankees.
The pressure will be on Lewis and Wilson to shine in the spotlight, to hold their own against Tampa Bay's Garza and Shields or the Yankees' Andy Pettitte and Phil Hughes perhaps.
To be honest, you have to like the Ranger pitchers' chances.
Lee, Wilson and Lewis rank fourth, 11th and 14th in ERA among AL starters. In a postseason of Rangers, Rays, Yankees and Twins, they would rank first, sixth and ninth. That gives Lewis and Wilson at the very least a fighting chance despite their lack of experience.
The Rangers aren't going to find a magic pitching formula between now and October. Scott Feldman and Rich Harden aren't turning back the clock any more than Holland is pushing it into the future.
The Rangers had a very disappointing series against Tampa Bay, but they weren't close to full strength at bat or, beyond Lee's start, on the mound.
That will change when the postseason gets here.
It's up to Colby Lewis and C. J. Wilson to prove that beating Texas three times in Minnesota Vikings jersey
October will be much more difficult than it was in less than 48 hours of mid-August.
Rays 8, Rangers 6
Evan Longoria hit a solo homer and drove in four runs to help Tampa Bay complete a sweep of the three-game series between potential playoff opponents. 5C