Nick Tepesch is looking for his third straight quality start on Friday night, something he hasn't done all season despite coming very close a couple of times. He'll be doing so in what is his final start of the 2014 season and the last time Rangers fans will see him until what he hopes is a start in April.
Tepesch takes the hill on Friday against the floundering Oakland A's, a team he beat in Oakland last week when he worked six innings and gave up just one earned run on four hits. The start after that, he shut down an Angels team that had clinched the division days earlier, but was still effective while giving up just one run over seven frames in a no-decision.
With another such start, he'll head into the offseason on the heels of three straight quality starts for arguably the best stretch of his big-league career, one that has had its share of ups and downs since making his MLB debut last season.
Tepesch appears to be the favorite of the guys on staff not named Yu, Derek or Colby to be in the Opening Day rotation next season along with a presumed free agent signing, and he's done nothing but help his case on that front with his recent outings. Now, he'll look to continue a trend started by Lisalverto Bonilla and Colby Lewis of making your final start of the season a good one.
