With 10 games remaining, the Rangers trail Minnesota by 2.5 games for the second wild card spot. If they are going to catch and pass the Twins, here are 10 things that must happen over the final 10 days:

Kick A's: C'mon you did a double take for a minute, didn't you? Well, the Rangers must do what you assume the headline said to the A's. They play seven times over the final 10 days with three in Oakland this week and four in Arlington to end the season. Here's the problem: The Swingin' A's are smoking hot, having won 11 of their last 14 games. And the Rangers haven't played well against Oakland this season. The A's swept them in Oakland at the end of August. The season series stands 6-6 this year. The Rangers must win at least five of the final seven, probably six.

The Silver Boot Matters: The winner of the Rangers-Astros season series gets control of the Silver Boot trophy. Why is this important? It's not. But a sweep of the Astros next week is. And a sweep would give the Rangers a 10-9 edge in the season series. The Rangers have won the season series nine times in the last 10 years. The Rangers have won six of the last nine games between the two teams. Coming back to win this season series might also pay some psychological dividends if the teams meet in a playoff series.

Cleveland Rocks: Nobody wants to face the Indians in the AL Division Series, but having the Indians lock down home field advantage with a continued sprint to the finish would benefit the Rangers greatly - and would also set them up as the ALDS opponent if the Rangers advanced that far. The Indians host Minnesota for three games Tuesday-Thursday and could cook Minnesota's chances. Cleveland leads the season series 10-6.

Tigers must have teeth: Minnesota played the first of seven games against Detroit in its final 10 on Thursday. The Twins won 12-1. Detroit has now been outscored 140-87 this month and the Tigers are 4-17 in September. It's an average of a win every five games. The Rangers can't afford to have Minnesota go 5-1 over the final six matchups. Detroit has been outscored 147-80 and have been outscored 147-80. They must be competitive enough to at least take one game in each of the two series.

Five alive: Nick Martinez, who starts Friday, and A.J. Griffin have split up the No. 5 spot in the rotation for most of the summer. The Rangers are 2-10 in their 12 starts since June 25. They have a composite ERA of 6.03 in those starts. That spot will get two starts over the final 10, as will the spot currently belonging to Miguel Gonzalez, who has allowed 12 runs in 10.1 innings over his first three Rangers starts. The bottom of the rotation must come out on top.

The catalyst: What's the best way to start a hot streak? Get Delino DeShields on base and get him in. Given his speed, if he does the former, he can often take care of the latter all by himself. And when he scores, it is as good a guarantee of a win as the Rangers are going to get. The club is 35-14 when he scores a run; 16-5 over the last two months.

Close the void: With Mike Napoli done for the year and Adrian Beltre limited to DH, the Rangers have had to move Joey Gallo to first base and use rookie Drew Robinson and Will Middlebrooks in a platoon at third base. The position has become an offensive void. Over the last five games, the Rangers third basemen are a combined 0 for 14 with 11 strikeouts. Robinson has 17 strikeouts in his last 22 at-bats. They must get some production out of the position.

The seventh-inning stretch: All year long, getting through the seventh inning has been the Rangers' biggest issue. When the bullpen cratered, it cratered deepest in the middle. The Rangers had been outscored 233-190 from the seventh inning on at the start of Thursday's game. With Matt Bush struggling with velocity, Keone Kela often unavailable and rookies such as Nick Gardewine and Ricky Rodriguez displaying typical rookie inconsistency, the Rangers have three trustworthy pieces to get the final nine outs in a game: Alex Claudio, Jake Diekman and Tony Barnette. It means a lot of work for two guys who have already worked a lot and another (Diekman) who is returning from colon surgery.

Veterans Day: The Rangers expected veteran presence to be a big asset for them in the playoff push. On Thursday they got big performances from Cole Hamels, Adrian Beltre, Carlos Gomez and Shin-Soo Choo, all guys with at least a decade in the majors. Part of it was performance and, in the case of Beltre and Gomez, part was finding a way to contribute when at less than 100 percent. Of the three teams with the best shot at the second wild card spot, the Rangers are the most experienced and playoff tested. The veterans can - and must - carry this team over the finish line.

Regress to the norm: Last year, when the Rangers went 36-11 in one-run games, it was considered a statistical freak, a product more of luck than skill. This year: They are 13-23 in one-run games, the worst record in the majors. That, too, is an outlier. It should be closer to .500. They have lost seven of their last nine one-run games dating back to August. They need some luck to overtake Minnesota. Luck would be a hop or two that goes their way, that tilts a couple of close games in their favor. They began their scoring with a bad-hop double off the bat of Carlos Gomez on Thursday. Maybe, the bounces are going to go their way for a while. They have to.