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ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros open up the final month of the season faithful to the company line -- one game, one series at a time -- but with plenty of ambition.The Rangers will be difficult to catch in the AL West with an 8.5-game lead over the Astros with 28 games to play. Winning two of three against Houston this weekend in a series at Globe Life Park in Arlington will all but actually clinch the division save for a very rare and unforeseen series of events. Texas would then have the luxury of resting key pieces and setting up its rotation for the divisional round of the AL playoffs.However, if the Astros, winners of 10 of their last 12 games, can take two or even sweep, the division might yet have some intrigue left.After Houston, the Rangers go on the road for four at Seattle, three against the Angels and three at Houston.Theres no doubt the next 10 days or so will be a challenge for us to get some separation from the guys behind us, Texas third baseman Adrian Beltre said. The one coming up with Houston will be important for us to create some separation so we can get some rest.Houston enters one game back in the AL wild-card standings. Theyll need to go 15-14 in their final 29 to match the 86-win plateau they hit in 2015 and will likely need to do that to have a chance at the wild card in 2016.The Astros first order of business is solving the Rangers riddle. Texas is 11-2 against Houston this year.But the schedule doesnt get any easier.After the Texas series are four games against Cleveland on the road and three with the Cubs at Minute Maid Park.Trust me, Id love to rattle off a ton of wins and clinch a week in advance and set up your rotation and set up everything, but it doesnt seem like its going to play out that way for too many teams in the game, manager A.J. Hinch said. The scoreboard is right in front of us (in left field at Minute Maid Park), but the more you scoreboard watch, the more youre taking your attention away from beating the team thats on the field in front of you.In game one on Friday, the Astros will throw right-hander Doug Fister (12-9, 3.60 ERA) against Texas righty A.J. Griffin (6-3, 4.39).Fister has battled consistency in the second half, going 4-6 with a 4.09 ERA in 12 starts since June 26. He had success against the Rangers in his last start against them on Aug. 6, holding Texas to one run in six innings.Griffin, too, has struggled with consistency since coming off the DL in June. The right-hander has only one quality start since May 2, though it was in his last outing. Griffin threw six scoreless innings in a victory over Cleveland.Texas enters having won five straight and six of seven on its current 10-game homestand.The body of work speaks for itself, manager Jeff Banister said of Texas recent results. We need to play well. Houston is hot right now. We still have some work to do. We need to come back ready to play. Cheap Dave Winfield Jersey . -- Jakob Silfverberg is making himself right at home with the Anaheim Ducks, scoring four goals in his first four games. Cheap Padres Jerseys China . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. http://www.cheappadresjerseys.com/ . The Islanders dealt Thomas Vanek to the Montreal Canadiens after less than a year on Long Island. Meanwhile, the Oilers dealt long-time sniper Ales hemsky to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday for a fifth-round pick in 2014 and a third-rounder in 2015. Cheap MLB Jerseys . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea. Cheap San Diego Padres Jerseys . Durant finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds, Jackson matched his career high with 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and Lamb scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, lifting the Thunder to a 94-88 win over San Antonio and snapping the Spurs 11-game winning streak.Mark Selby eased to victory over home player Ding Junhui as he beat the Chinese 10-1 at the final of the International Championship in Daqing. The world number one was always in control of the match, posting breaks of 87 and 83 as he took an early two-frame lead.Although Ding pulled one back when he was trailing 3-0, Selby won eight of the nine frames in the opening session to take a commanding lead. Having also beaten Ding in the World Championship final in May, the Englishman then went on to secure a comfortable victory.With Ding 54-0 up in the first frame of the second session, he had looked set to seal it after splitting the remaining reds. Selby avenged his defeat to Ding in the decider at the Shanghai Masters last month He missed a relatively simple pot to the corner, however, and Selby cleared to the pink to go 8-1 up before claiming the final frame with a break of 78.ddddddddddddThe victory gave the 33-year-old a first prize of £125,000 and allowed him to consolidate his position at the top of the world rankings.Selbys win came after he lost 10-6 to world number six Ding in the final of the Shanghai Masters last month. Also See: Photos Bet ￡5 Get ￡20 free Get Sky Sports ' ' '