There hasn't been a much more disappointing player in this Texas Rangers collapse than Robbie Ross.
But just as the Rangers can still salvage their season over these remaining 10 games and earn a postseason berth, Ross can redeem himself and regain the confidence his team, and more importantly, Ron Washington had in him when he was one of the best relievers in baseball over the past year and a half.
Ross' career had taken about as much of a nosedive as humanly possible over the last month. Ross had a 1.86 ERA on June 30, and then things started to blow up on the second-year lefty. By Aug. 30, it was 2.62. By Sept. 4, it was 3.21 after he allowed four earned runs on four hits without recording an out in a key loss to the Oakland A's. His next time out, he walked the only hitter he faced and was charged with another earned run without recording an out.
Things have looked up for Ross recently, as he entered Thursday's game with 1 2/3 scoreless innings while allowing three hits, but on Thursday, he showed the Ross of old, and it was very impressive.
Ross came into a comfortable position with a nice lead and made mince meat out of the Rays' lineup, striking out the side on 13 pitches in one inning, then coming back out for another and getting three more quick outs to total two perfect innings on 26 pitches.
Ross was basically an outsider as far as making a postseason roster with the Rangers, but after that outing and if he can throw together another one or two like it before October, the Rangers will have to consider carrying him if they are fortunate enough to make it that far.
