This story has been updated since its original publication on September 20th, 2017.

SEATTLE - It is the ninth inning of what has somehow become a playoff race. Alex Claudio is pitching his 80th inning of the season, something a Rangers reliever hasn't done in nine years. He is working on his third save of more than three outs this season, something a Ranger hasn't done in more than a decade. He is flipping 87 mph stuff past Robinson Cano.

It is surreal.

And that's before the surreal gives way to what is all too real. Claudio is doing this while word is emerging that his island, his home, Puerto Rico has been demolished by Hurricane Maria. The entire island is without electricity. The countryside is flooded.

Fighting back tears, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz had, only hours earlier, told a TV crew: "The Puerto Rico and the San Juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there."

This is the backdrop against which Claudio is doing his finest work. He works two innings Wednesday night, preserves an 8-6 win over Seattle that inches the Rangers to within two games of the second AL wild card spot. Claudio picked up his 10th save of the season.

"It is a hell there," Claudio said through an interpreter Wednesday. "But my family is OK. And if they are OK and I know there is nothing I can do, I know I still have to do my job. And I'm comfortable doing it."

Claudio was actually fortunate. He was able to speak to his parents, who live in the municipality of Juncos on the Southeastern side of the island - in the direct path of the storm's eye wall - on Tuesday night hours after he closed out a Rangers win and just hours before the storm hit. He was also able to talk to them Wednesday after they spent the night in a bathroom while the storm passed.

Catcher A.J. Jimenez, who made his major league debut two weeks ago, couldn't reach his girlfriend or his family in Bayamon all day. He spent the entire afternoon scrolling through social media, waiting for a text or a phone call to come through. First base coach Hector Ortiz, whose parents are in Canovanas, also couldn't get through.

"What hurts the most is not knowing anything," Jimenez said before the game. "I want to be there with them. I want one text, one phone call."

Jimenez finally did reach family before the game. He considered himself lucky. He said much of his family's home had been destroyed by water, but "they are alive." Ortiz also reached family by text Thursday morning. But communication has been silent since. Parts of Puerto Rico are looking at being without power four to six months.

Just another reminder that some things are more important than baseball.

Almost everybody in the Rangers' clubhouse this season has been struck by some kind of life-shaking event. The Venezuelan players have rallied to make sure their families were out of harm's way as the country's economic infrastructure deteriorated into near chaos. Jake Diekman fought through three surgeries to pitch again. Andrew Cashner, manager Jeff Banister and pitching coach Doug Brocail had immediate family impacted by Hurricane Harvey; Nick Martinez by Hurricane Irma.

The Dominican contingent has had to deal with threats from both Irma and Maria. The Puerto Ricans got the brunt of both.

"Two weeks ago, we thought we got it," Claudio said of Irma. "But it came to kill us again."

And through it all, they have gone out and done their jobs. Perhaps it was not as well as was expected - though that certainly can't be said for Claudio - and perhaps it won't be good enough to reach the playoffs. But through turmoil, trial and tribulations they have gone out and done what was asked.

"There is not a person in here who can't relate to what those guys are going through right now," Banister said of the Puerto Rican players. "It is absolutely gut-wrenching. All those guys are human beings; they care.

"Between the lines is where they love to be," he said. "It is their escape. They are trained and conditioned to go out there in those situations. But they are still human beings. It is special to see [Claudio] go out and perform the way he is under those circumstances."

For Alex Claudio, the year began with his hair dyed blonde as part of a team-building gesture while he was the unlikely bullpen star of Puerto Rico's plucky World Baseball Classic entry. The team was toasted in San Juan after the end of the tournament. The year is coming to an end with the island in tatters, shaken by one hurricane and leveled by another.

Through it all - through tears of pride and tears of pain - Claudio has gone out and done his job.

It is special. And a little surreal, too.

Twitter: @Evan_P_Grant