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ARLINGTON, Texas - Yu Darvish gave the injury-riddled Texas Rangers a nice send-off on an important road trip that includes all three teams above them in the AL West standings. The Japanese aces first complete game in the major leagues — a shutout, no less — still cant hide a sobering reality. The Rangers are eight games behind Oakland and dangerously close to last-place Houston, a 100-loss team for three years running. Texas just made its 20th move on the disabled list. Four first basemen are on the DL. Left-handed starter Martin Perez wont be back until sometime during the 2015 season. Matt Harrison, another lefty that was supposed to be in the rotation, may be finished for good. Somehow the Rangers will try to find a way to gain ground starting Friday night in visits to Seattle, division-leading Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels. "At some point, weve got to start getting blessed by the baseball gods," manager Ron Washington said. "But we have to make that happen. Theyre not just going to come down and say, OK, you all have been through enough misery. Im going to take you out of it. No, youve got to pull yourself out of your misery." The Rangers have actually done it once already. They started a challenging 11-game trip last month on the biggest downer of the season: news that first baseman Prince Fielder needed neck surgery and was finished for the year. Texas took three of four from AL Central-leading Detroit and ended up winning seven games, capped by Darvishs eight shutout innings in a 2-0 win at Washington. Fielders replacement is the problem this time, with Mitch Moreland finally giving in to the need for surgery on an ailing left ankle. The first report was he would miss three months, but now theres a chance he could opt for a procedure that will reduce his absence to four weeks. Regardless, the Rangers had to give Brad Snyder a crash course on playing first at Triple-A Round Rock, and he started the final two games of the last homestand. Jim Adduci figured to follow Moreland, but he rebroke his left pinkie finger near the end of a rehab assignment and will probably miss another month. The Rangers have used 40 players, and 10 are rookies. They have a majors-leading 14 players on the DL. "I think for a little while, the training staff was like hesitant to deliver some of this news to Wash or myself," general manager Jon Daniels said. "But I think theyve gotten over that unfortunately." With the rotation crumbling around him and the Rangers carrying an AL-worst 4.53 ERA, Darvish is on the best run of his three seasons in the majors. In his last six starts, he is 5-1 with a 1.51 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 47 2-3 innings. "Of course I get comfort with Darvish out there," Washington said before the right-hander ended a four-game losing streak in a 6-0 win over Miami. "Its not just Darvish. Darvish can go out there and pitch real well and if we dont score any runs, it wont matter." Tigers Jerseys 2020 . This week they discuss the Philadelphia 76ers, Gregg Popovich, Royal and Ancient Golf Club and Bill Belichick. Tigers Jerseys 2019 . Viewers in the Canadiens region can watch the game on TSN at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt and listen on TSN 690. The Canadiens have won three in a row and four of their last five games and recently put the finishing touches on a 3-1-0 road trip. https://www.cheaptigers.com/ . -- Los Angeles Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw was placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday for the first time in his seven-year career because of a swollen muscle in his left upper back. Detroit Tigers Gear .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Cheap Tigers Jerseys .C. -- Colin Kaepernick raced into the end zone, then pretended to rip open his shirt with both hands imitating Cam Newtons Superman touchdown celebration.Yes, the Dallas Cowboys are for real. That was the question of all speculative questions as last Sunday started. And after the blocked punt by Seattle and the six fast special teams points I thought; here we go again -- an atmosphere advantage and a Seattle dominate win. But I was wrong. It was just a challenging moment to overcome and the Cowboys did that. Whether you like them or hate them, you have to respect them for the 30-23 win. Are there concerns? There always are. First, you have to wonder if DeMarco Murray can last the season as a healthy running back. If he does, that in itself will be a major accomplishment. Between Murray and Marshawn Lynch, we saw the two most physical and extreme effort laden running backs in football. Lynch has been able to stay healthy over time and perhaps Murray will too. If he does, this is a playoff year in Dallas but even if not, Joseph Randal can be a primary runner. His contribution is not as dramatic as Murray but effective in its own way. The second heath issue in Dallas is Tony Romo at quarterback. Did you get the impression that maybe something is not 100 per cent? He took a tough hit on one play and a few pushes on another and even at the midpoint of the season, he does not always participate on Wednesday practice. His value is so significant when you consider Romo has 26 fourth quarter comeback wins since 2006. The last one, on Sunday, was just maybe his best. This was a dominate win; 23 first downs to 9, 162 yards rushing to 80, 401 total yards to 206. And the big one to me was time of possession. Dallas kept the ball 37 minutes and 37 seconds while Seattle had 22 minutes and 21 seconds. Final score of 30-23 and no luck involved. In Buffalo, the Patriots woon 37-22 but I was more impressed with the Bills.ddddddddddddAfter destroying the Bengals on the ground, New England only ran for 50 yards on 27 attempts. The Bills defensive line is very good, from Mario Williams to Kyle Williams to Marcell Dareus, but Jerry Hughes at 6 2 and 254lbs has some Cam Wake-type skills and Canadian Stefan Charles has emerged as the fifth best defensive lineman especially against the run. If Hughes performs, the Bills will continue to excel at a very high level. And to think no Kiko Alonso in the middle. Last hidden reason for the Bills perceived success despite the 37 points allowed; former Detroit head coach and present defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz. He was an amazing success in Tennessee when he was with Jeff Fisher and he is creating those good Tennessee defenses in Buffalo. With New England, they won the game but at a high price with no Jerod Mayo on defense and no Steven Ridley on offense. That is a high price. In Cleveland, I cant remember the last time I saw a final score of Cleveland 31 and Pittsburgh 10. After so much hype between Manziel and Hoyer, it is Hoyer that is playing and Manziel watching. For some reason I like that. Brian Hoyer is a free agent next year, I doubt he will get Brady/Manning/Bress/Kaepernick/Rogers/Newton or Dalton money but he will be set for life and that means a lot. And finally in Cincinnati, Mike Nugent missed a 36 yard field goal to win in what ended up as a tie 37-37 with Carolina. The vast majority of players will say nothing, do nothing and stay aloof. But not all. My hope is Nugent has an opportunity again in the near future to hit a 36 yard field goal to win. It is the only way to forgive and forget in the world of win not matter what. ' ' '