Great job of working back from the early-count deficit and drawing a walk by Cruz...

You know, typically 13-man pitching staffs don't make a whole lot of sense, but as Nadel just mentioned on the radio side, it's a really good thing that Texas has one tonight ... Wilson, Guardado and O'Day are unavailable, as is Francisco (obviously), so the Rangers are missing their three best relievers tonight, and are basically down to Mathis, Eyre and Grilli, as shown in this table:

http://www.bbtia.com/bullpen/

Random note: Kinsler's fly-ball rate sat at 55.5 percent entering tonight's game, with corresponding career-low line-drive and ground-ball rates, and even though Kinsler has explicitly stated that his swing is exactly the same as it has always been, I can't shake the feeling that his swing angle is higher than it was last year...

1-2-3 frame, and somehow the game is knotted going into the bottom of the fourth inning, with the Rangers' win probability currently higher than that of the Red Sox. It will be a minor miracle if Texas pulls this off.

His Futures Game appearance was indeed sensational -- and speaking of sensational, brilliant suicide squeeze-turned-base hit by Andrus ... the ball had no chance of rolling foul ...

First base umpire Marvin Hudson blocks what would have been a one-base and possibly two-base error that would have put Andrus into scoring position with just one out...tough break for Texas...

And with Buchholz on the ropes, just beyond the 90-pitch mark with less than four innings to his credit, and with Terry Francona nervously pacing in the Red Sox dugout, and with Young having just drawn a nice walk, Hamilton promptly slaps a weak grounder on an outside change-up to end the frame. Since returning from the DL, Hamilton is hitting .250/.294/.354 with just three extra-base hits in 51 plate appearances, and if it wasn't time before to be worried about him, it's probably time now...

Fantastic diving snag by Young to his left to prevent a certain base hit... his pitch count is under 70 through 4.2 frames and he might well go six-plus innings, which I certainly didn't envision happening at the beginning of the night...

Angels have knotted the game in Kansas City with a two-run blast from Mike Napoli. Harumph.

This would be an interesting time for another double steal...

And so commences the top of the ninth inning, with the Rangers surprisingly just three outs away from pulling off a relatively easy sweep of what had been the American League's best team record-wise...can't say enough good things about the efforts put forth by Nippert/Mathis tonight...

Gorgeous back-handed stab by Kinsler to rob Drew of what had an excellent chance of being a lead-off hit...the emergence of Kinsler's defense this season has, in my mind, been as important a factor in the Rangers' success as any...

Byrd easily snags a fly ball down the left field line, and Texas is incredibly one out away from sweeping Boston clean out of Texas...

Remarkable win with a badly short-handed roster. Simply remarkable.