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Rangers eye winning mark, home sweep of Astros

May 18, 2008 - 2:24 PM Houston (24-20) at Texas (22-22) 3:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) - A slow start had many questioning if the Texas Rangers could be competitive in 2008. Less than a month after appearing down and out, they are right back in the thick of their division race.

The Rangers look to crawl over the .500 mark and sweep their in-state rivals on Sunday when they conclude a three-game series with the Houston Astros.

Likely left for dead by some after a 7-16 start to the season, Texas has quickly turned things around, winning four of five and nine of 11 to move within 2 1/2 games of first place in the American League West.

A win on Sunday would allow the Rangers to match their 45-game start of 2006 when they ended the season 80-82, the closest that Texas has finished to the .500 mark since 2004, when they posted their only winning record this decade (89-73).

The Rangers could be even hotter had they not dropped the final game of their two previous series after prevailing in the first two contests. Trying to overcome that hiccup might be even more difficult if Josh Hamilton, amongst the league leaders in homers and RBI, is unable to go due to a sore shoulder, hip and calf.

Texas would like to see another strong outing from Kason Gabbard (1-0, 2.12 ERA), who is in the midst of a five-game winless spell. The lefthander posted his fifth straight no-decision in Tuesday's 5-2 win over Seattle when he allowed two runs and five hits over 5 1/3 frames.

Opposing him will Brandon Backe (2-5, 4.62), who will try to avoid his third consecutive loss. The righthander permitted four runs - three earned - and seven hits over six innings in a 4-2 setback vs. San Francisco.