Arlington, On Thursday Sept 29 I had to opportunity to talk with David Murphy, Darren Oliver and Michael Young about being at home for the playoff in MLB. We also had a chance to attend the press conference and ask questions to pitcher C.J. Wilson and Manager Ron Washington about Tampa Bay.Here are the keys to the game. My prediction is the Rangers will win the series in 5 games.1. The Rangers BullpenBefore the season, Nolan Ryan predicted that the Rangers would win "somewhere between 90 and 95 games." The Rangers' surpassed their CEO's expectations --- they won a franchise-record 96 games --- and they did it without Cliff Lee and without a superhuman Josh Hamilton. The offense, thanks in part to additions Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli, scored 63 more runs than they did last year, and the starting staff, with the emergences of Derek Holland and Matt Harrison, was the league's third best (3.65 ERA). But the reason why this Texas club is better built for October than the 2010 team is the bullpen, which GM Jon Daniels remade at the trade deadline with the additions of Mike Adams and Koji Uehara. Since manager Ron Washington called out him out for his "lack of fire" at the end of July, Neftali Feliz has quietly re-established himself as an elite closer, with his fastball touching 99 mph again in recent weeks. All-Star Alexi Ogando has moved from the rotation to the bullpen for the postseason and is yet another weapon for Washington, who's never had a 'pen as deep and as good as this one.2.Who will step up in place of Cliff Lee?Last October, Derek Holland was an ALCS hero after logging 5 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees out of the bullpen (3 2/3 innings came in Texas' Game 4 win in Yankee Stadium). Then came his World Series meltdown --- he walked three straight hitters, on 13 pitches, in the Rangers' Game 2 unraveling. Now the baby-faced 24-year-old is set to make his first career postseason start opposite James Shields in Game 2. With Colby Lewis struggling, the Rangers have needed Holland to step up in the rotation behind ace C.J. Wilson. Holland's season started to turn around after bullpen coach Andy Hawkins helped tweak his delivery in late July, and recently, Holland has looked like an elite starter: the left-hander was 5-1 with a 2.06 ERA in his final six starts of the regular season, with 41 strikeouts in 39 1/3 innings.Thanks for listening.Be sure to check out my radio show daily from 1pm to 6pm www.musicalsoulfood.comOr my sports column in the LaVida News. www.lavidanews.com

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