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Why the Rangers' next 9 games will have the feel of a long playoff series

ARLINGTON -- This is how the Rangers began the showdown with the AL West's second-place team Monday night:

They knocked them out of second place.

Yu Darvish continued to extend himself as a fastball-first, post-op Tommy John patient. Carlos Beltran recovered nicely from a long slump. Keone Kela had what could be a big turning point in his season. And the Rangers put a little more distance between themselves and the Seattle Mariners with a 6-3 win.

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The win, combined with Houston's win over Oakland, pushed the Astros into second place. They remain 8.5 games ahead of the Astros. Seattle is 9.5 back. Prepare for some shuffling. The Rangers play their next nine games against these two teams. In a lot of ways, it's like a long playoff series.

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And in a playoff series, the Rangers will likely mimic the start of this series: With Darvish pitching first and Hamels right behind him. They are the keys to a deep playoff run. In a best-of-five series, they could combine for three starts; in a best of seven, four.

They are doing their part to become a dynamic duo. The Rangers have won Darvish's last five starts. They've won three of Hamels' last four.

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"You are talking about two ace quality pitchers," said Jonathan Lucroy, who has caught all nine of those games. "Put it this way: I'm glad I get to catch and them and not face them. I feel sorry for a lineup that has to face them back-to-back."

That is the task Seattle faces this week. It's possible Houston could face the same over the weekend. Or the Rangers could deploy the duo again to start the first two games of next week's four-game series in Seattle.

Darvish seems to get more comfortable with himself and his place with each outing. On Monday, he extended himself to 110 pitches, the most since surgery, in 6.2 innings. Unable to get comfortable with his slider, the dynamic put-away pitch that has marked his career, he used his fastball and curve heavily. In the past, there were times when Darvish shied away from relying on the fastball. He hasn't since his return.

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"He's more relaxed and more connected," Rangers manager Jeff Banister said even before Darvish went 6.2 innings and threw a post-surgery high of 110 pitches. "He is in a good place being a member of the team and being a teammate. I think he feels more a part of the inner circle, part of the core group of guys."

"This is a bigger change than even I thought it would be," Darvish said, via an interpreter, of his comfort with the fastball.

Darvish's biggest blips Monday were walk-related. He allowed a two-out walk to Kyle Seager in the fourth after the Rangers had a long bottom half of third (they scored four runs with Beltran's double being a big hit). Adam Lind followed with a double.

Darvish went to the seventh with 93 pitches and allowed a one-out walk to No. 8 hitter Shawn O'Malley before getting the second out on a fly ball from Ketel Marte. After he allowed a sinking-liner single to Leonys Martin, Banister relieved him. Reliever Jake Diekman allowed a two-run double and walked a batter before Banister went to Kela.

Kela, who had bone chip surgery early in the year, has struggled to find his groove since returning. But he won a nine-pitch at-bat against Nelson Cruz with a curve, then came back for a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

Beltran, who had an 0-for-34 skid last week, returned from a day off to homer in the first. In the third, his run-scoring double was the fourth straight hit by the Rangers in the inning. All four of those batters ended up scoring.

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It gave Darvish a big lead. He knows how to put those away.

So does Hamels.

It's a daunting task for any team.

"If they are on, good pitching beats good hitting," pitching coach Doug Brocail said. "And they are good pitchers. It's nice having your two best guys go back-to-back."

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This week, it's the Mariners that face that challenge.

In another month, the Rangers hope it's the formula that takes them straight to the World Series.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant