Here is a great post by Joey Matschulat at Baseball Time in Arlington taking the long view of the Rays sweep of the Rangers.

This paragraph caught my eye and, if Matschulat is right, has to make everyone in the bay area feel pretty good about October:

But perhaps most significantly (and I hate to keep drilling this home, but it’s important), the Rangers continue to match up well with the best American League teams where the most consistent indicators of post-season success are concerned: team strikeout rate, team defensive runs above average, and closer dominance. While it appears the Rays are the runaway favorites from a defensive standpoint (and that’s not a knock on the Rangers so much as it is complimentary of Tampa Bay), one could reasonably argue that there is little separation between Rays closer Rafael Soriano and Neftali Feliz, and the Rangers are extremely potent strikeout-wise, boasting two starters — Cliff Lee (7.99 K/9) and Colby Lewis (9.10 K/9) with well above-average strikeout rates and no fewer than four late-inning relievers with sparkling strikeout rates.

Say what you want about this team, but you don’t have to be a SABRmetrician to know that the Rays play defense as well, or better, than any team in baseball, have at least two starters, and several bullpen guys, with high strikeout potential, and have a lockdown guy at the back of the ‘pen (presuming he lasts until October).