Texas @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 19, 2012 ) Texas 6, LA Angels 2

The Los Angeles Angels acquired Zack Greinke at the trade deadline with the hope that the right-hander would be the final piece of a vaunted starting rotation that would carry the club into the postseason. Greinke has held up his end - particularly over the last four weeks - but the Angels face an uphill climb to snare one of the two wild card slots. Los Angeles squandered a chance to gain ground with Wednesday's loss and sits 3 1/2 games behind Oakland for the second wild card.

The Rangers were without sluggers Josh Hamilton and Adrian Beltre yet finally managed to pick up a game on the Athletics and stretched their lead to four games atop the AL West Division with 14 to play. Hamilton (vision) and Beltre (stomach) both underwent MRI exams Wednesday but the results will not be known until Thursday. Michael Young had a pair of hits and an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Yu Darvish pitches the series finale for Texas.

TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, FS Southwest (Texas), FS West (California)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Yu Darvish (15-9, 4.02 ERA) vs. Angels RH Zack Greinke (5-2, 3.78)

Darvish will be making his fifth start this season against the Angels, logging a 2-1 record and 5.32 against them. He matched a season high with 11 strikeouts in seven innings to beat the Angels in Anaheim on July 21, but was rocked for seven runs and allowed a season-high six walks against Los Angeles 11 days later. Darvish is 3-0 in his last four starts, surrendering a total of six runs in 29 innings.

Greinke has been dominant in his last five outings. He saw his four-start winning streak end last time out at Kansas City despite limiting the Royals to one run in 8 1/3 innings in a no-decision. Greinke has pitched at least seven innings in each of his last five starts and has surrendered a total of seven runs in that span. He is 3-5 with a 2.81 ERA in 12 appearances (10 starts) against the Rangers.

WALK-OFFS

1. Angels 1B Albert Pujols had two hits in his return to the lineup after missing Tuesday's game for the birth of his daughter.

2. Hamilton will likely remain out of the lineup Thursday. He's 0-for-16 with seven strikeouts against Greinke.

3. Angels CF Mike Trout set the franchise rookie record with his 284th total base, eclipsing the mark held by Devon White (1987).