Wednesday Morning Links

So the excitement in the 10th included a balked-in run and Joe Nathan repeatedly falling off the mound.

T.R. Sullivan's notes column says that Tanner Scheppers was good Monday after a couple of shaky outings because he's found his slider command, Matt West is among the Rangers selected for the Arizona Fall League, and also has Washington trolling LSB by saying he's fine with Kinsler bunting ahead of Beltre.

Evan Grant theorizes that Travis Blackley could be the key to avoiding another late-season collapse, which seems counterintuitive considering that everyone (not just the fifth starter) sucked at the end of 2012. Then you realize that one measly win would have prevented the collapse, and you're like "thanks for opening old wounds, Evan."

Evan also focuses on Jorge Alfaro among the Ranger prospects going to the Arizona Fall League.

With Mike Olt no longer part of the organization, Adrian Beltre gamely carries on the Mike Olt Modesty Meme by saying the MVP is a two man race and he's not a part of it. The linked notes column also says that Alexi Ogando is expected to throw off a mound this weekend and that his frequent need for repairs has Don Draper comparing him to "the other woman,"

Ron Washington says, apropos of Yu Darvish giving up a two run homer after being gifted a 2-0 lead, that Darvish is only in his second season and is still learning.

There was an interesting article about the famous tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs over at ESPN that alleges Riggs threw the match to pay off gambling debts.

And, finally, a forthcoming paper in Acta Astronautica takes a look at the relative ease of galactic colonization and the implications of Fermi's paradox.