DALLAS — The Texas Rangers have been here before, kind of.
Texas plays the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card best-of-three series beginning Tuesday on WFAA.
The Wild Card berth wasn't what the Rangers had in mind; they were eyeing an American League West title before losing 1-0 to the Mariners on Sunday.
But the Wild Card spot gets them in the door, and when they walk through it Tuesday, they'll find a familiar postseason opponent in the Rays.
Texas faced Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs in 2010 and 2011. And both postseasons, if you remember, resulted in the Rangers reaching the World Series.
Back then, there was no Wild Card best-of-three series. It was simply a playoff bracket with the three American League division champions and one Wild Card team.
In 2010, the Rangers finished 90-72, the same as they did this year, but it was good enough to win the AL West. Tampa Bay finished 96-66 as the AL East champion and top seed on the AL side.
And their series ended up making history: It would be the first time that neither team won a home game.
Texas rolled to 5-1 and 6-0 victories at Tropicana Field and returned to a fever pitch at the Ballpark in Arlington. Only to lose the next two games, setting up a win-or-go-home Game 5 back in Tampa Bay.
Luckily for the Rangers, they had Cliff Lee, the lefty starting pitcher they acquired at the trade deadline that season. Lee fired a complete game one-run performance, leading Texas to a 5-1 win.
Texas advanced to the American League Championship Series, where they beat the New York Yankees before falling to the San Francisco Giants in the World Series.
The 2011 postseason was a similar story for the Rangers, though less stress-inducing. They faced Tampa Bay again in the American League Division Series; Texas had won the AL West by 10 games, while the Rays won the Wild Card spot.
Texas dropped Game 1 9-0, but came back with three straight victories to win the series. And yet again, the Rangers advanced through the American League Championship Series to the World Series, where they faced the St. Louis Cardinals.
We won't walk about what happened next.
More Texas Rangers coverage from WFAA: