The club could still even win the AL West; just 2 1/2 games separate them, the Rangers and the Angels. That set could have massive implications for both teams, and with the Astros and Twins also fighting for a playoff spot, there may be a few good scoreboard watching to come.
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Basically, you have to figure the Rangers are going to win at least three more games this year, probably more.
If the Angels win all their games, they will not only make the playoffs, they will win the division. The Rangers, for comparison, are nine games over.500 on the road.
Houston’s collapse continued Tuesday with a late-inning 6-4 loss to the Mariners.
If their magic number is three, how can they clinch tonight? They’ll be in St Louis or Pittsburgh for the winner-take-all one-game super death match wild card contest. Houston leads by a half game over the Los Angeles Angels, with Minnesota another game behind. Two weeks ago, they were badly declining through 5 straight losses, including 3 against the Angels. Meanwhile, the Astros are hanging onto the second Wild Card spot with a 0.5-game lead over the Angels and a 1.5-game lead over the Twins.
Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers won his sixth game behind a quality start Monday against Seattle, as he allowed two runs on four hits and two walks over six innings.
As if the Angels’ wild-card tiebreaker scenarios were not insane enough, here’s another freakish but increasingly possible way to end the regular season: three teams tied atop the American League West. Hopefully first place in the division -and the fate of our Rangers- is decided before then.
I’d like to say, despite his instant #NeverEverQuit mantra, new manager Jeff Bannister was anticipating a long season. “You’ve got to continue to play”. They need to slow it down and take it one at bat at a time. We’ve been able to do it all year and it was another example today. “When he said he was dizzy, I was like, ‘Oh my.’ But then we see that he is fine, and he is ready for tomorrow”.
Seattle is 4-10 in game one of a series, 4-1 at home against a team with a winning record, and 2-5 in Elias’ last seven starts.
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Mets first baseman Lucas Duda recorded his seventh multihomer game of the season, going deep twice, and drove in all of New York’s runs as the NL East champions fell to the Phillies 4-3. The Rangers are in the drivers seat of the AL West and hold the keys to their own destiny and making the postseason, now they just have to find a way to finish the race before running out of gas.
