Texas @ Tampa Bay preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 18, 2013 ) Texas 3, Tampa Bay 4

Two of the American League’s best pitchers square off when the visiting Texas Rangers send Yu Darvish to the mound against Matt Moore of the Tampa Bay Rays in the critical finale of a four-game set Thursday. Darvish leads the majors in strikeouts while Moore boasts a career-best 15 victories and has not lost in three months. Desmond Jennings’ RBI single in the 12th inning gave the Rays a 4-3 win on Wednesday and a one-game lead on Texas for the first AL wild card spot.

The Rays and Rangers have each won three games in the season series, which could become a tiebreaker for playoff positioning. Leonys Martin has four extra-base hits in the last two games for Texas, which leads Cleveland by a half-game for the second AL wild card position. Evan Longoria, who tops the Rays in homers and RBIs, is due for a big game after managing only five hits in his last 27 at-bats with seven strikeouts.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), SunSports (Tampa Bay)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Yu Darvish (12-9, 2.79 ERA) vs. Rays LH Matt Moore (15-3, 3.11)

Darvish has dropped four 1-0 decisions this season, including each of his last two starts, and has not won in six outings despite a 3.38 ERA in that span. The 27-year-old from Japan has struck out 256 and is 6 1/3 innings away from his first 200-inning season. Sam Fuld is 3-for-6 against Darvish, who was 1-0 with a 0.60 ERA in two starts versus Tampa Bay in 2012.

Moore, who missed August while on the disabled list, has not lost since June 14 and yielded only one earned run over 14 2/3 innings since his return. The 24-year-old was limited to three innings due to a rain delay in his last outing against Minnesota after giving up only one hit. Alex Rios is 1-for-11 with eight strikeouts versus Moore, who gave up no runs and one hit in 5 1/3 innings to beat Texas on April 10.

WALK-OFFS

1. Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre has gone 18 games without a home run – leaving him at 28 on the season.

2. Tampa Bay rookie OF Wil Myers is 12-for-31 with two homers and seven RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.

3. Texas has the most road wins in the majors (43) but is 14-19 overall against AL East opponents.

PREDICTION: Rangers 2, Rays 1