Rangers head back to AL Championship Series

The Texas Rangers are on track to get another shot at a World Series title this season, as they dispatched the Tampa Bay Rays in their American League Division Series and await their opponent for the first game of this weekend's ALCS (Saturday, first pitch time TBA, FOX).

The Rangers didn't look great in the first game of their ALDS at home with the Rays last Friday night, getting blanked 9-0 by rookie starting pitching Matt Moore while watching their starting pitcher C.J. Wilson get knocked around for eight runs (six earned) on seven hits over just five innings of work.

That turned out to be Texas' lone stumble in the best-of-five set, as they won the next three games to punch their ticket to this year's AL Championship Series.

Game 2 saw them get a better effort from their starting pitcher, as Derek Holland went five innings while giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits in an 8-6 Texas home win. Ian Kinsler, Mitch Moreland, Mike Napoli all picked up two RBI for the Rangers in that contest.

The series shifted to Tampa Bay for Game 3 on Monday night, with Colby Lewis holding the Rays to just one run on one hit over six innings pitched in a 4-3 road win for the Rangers. Napoli and Josh Hamilton combined for four RBI that game.

And Texas then finished off the series with another 4-3 road win in Game 4 on Tuesday, as Matt Harrison held the Rays to two runs on five hits over five innings of work while fanning nine batters. Adrian Beltre powered the offense for Texas in Game 4, belting three solo home runs, while Kinsler homered in the victory as well.

The Rangers now advance to face the winner of the ALDS between the Tigers and Yankees, with those teams set for a deciding Game 5 on Thursday night (8:07pm ET, TBS). Doug Fister (0-1, 11.57 ERA in the playoffs) gets the ball for Detroit on Thursday night, while New York counters with Ivan Nova (1-0. 2.84 ERA) at home.

The Yankees forced the Game 5 with a convincing 10-1 road win in Game 4 on Tuesday night, as Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano both drove in a pair of runs and A.J. Burnett went 5 2-3 strong innings while giving up just one run on four hits.

Yankees ace CC Sabathia and Tigers ace Justin Verlander both started Game 3 of their ALDS on Monday night, so whichever team advances would have their stud pitcher ready to start against the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALCS on Saturday � barring a relief appearance on Thursday of course.

Should the Tigers advance to the ALCS they'd travel to Texas for Game 1 of that best-of-seven series, with the Rangers holding homefield advantage in that matchup. If the Yankees come out on top on Thursday they'll stay at home and host the Rangers in Game 1 of the ALCS thanks to their superior season record.

Game 2 of the ALCS is set for Sunday, while the National League Championship Series would get started on Sunday. The Oddsmaker MLB betting board will have game lines and totals for all the League Championship Series contests coming up.