FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) The group backed by Major League Baseball to buy the Texas Rangers sued the team on Monday, hoping to force the long-delayed sale and put a halt to the fresh round of bidding that was opened up unexpectedly in the team's bankruptcy case.

The lawsuit filed by Hall of Fame pitcher and team president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg accuses the Rangers of breaching their purchase agreement with the group. It is the latest twist in a complicated and occasionally ugly fight over the Rangers, who are in first place in the American League West and hoping to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

Selling the team to the Greenberg-Ryan group and paying creditors $75 million was part of the Rangers' bankruptcy plan when it filed for Chapter 11 protection in May after angry lenders had blocked the team's sale for months.

The Greenberg-Ryan group, Rangers Baseball Express, was chosen after a bidding process that started last summer with six bidders, according to the suit. After being selected, the group even raised its offer by $10 million because the team was still negotiating with other interested buyers before the agreement was signed in January, the suit alleges.