PHILADELPHIA – The Rangers and Mavs will never be closer than on Friday.

So, close in fact, that officials had to do something about it.

With North Texas’ baseball and basketball teams scheduled to play almost simultaneously at facilities that back up to one another in Minneapolis on Friday, officials decided to move the start of the baseball game up an hour. The Minnesota Twins announced a game time change for the series opener on Friday, moving first pitch up to 6:10 CT. It had originally been scheduled for 7:10.

But with the Mavs and Timberwolves tipping off Game 2 of the NBA Western Conference Finals at 7:30 p.m. at the Target Center, which backs up to Target Field, it presented the possibility of ingress and egress traffic and pedestrian jams.

It’s the second time this month the Rangers have found themselves playing in the same city while one of their North Texas pro sports counterparts are playing a playoff game there. The Rangers were swept in Denver 10 days ago while the Stars were playing the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This should be the last time the issue occurs this season, although the Rangers do have a trip upcoming to Miami to face the Marlins at the end of May. The Florida Panthers, who play North of Miami in Sunrise, Fla., are still alive in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but their Eastern Conference finals against the New York Rangers is scheduled to run past the baseball-playing Rangers visit.

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