ARLINGTON, Texas — The Houston Astros are -295 favorites to win the American League West at FanDuel Sportsbook. The Texas Rangers are listed at +240 with four games left in the regular season.
The two teams are tied atop the division at 78-80 after both lost Wednesday night. Texas fell 7-2 to the New York Mets at Globe Life Field for its third straight loss. Houston lost 6-5 in 10 innings at the Seattle Mariners after closer Josh Hader (4-2) allowed two runs in the bottom of the 10th.
At those prices, a $100 bet on Texas would pay $240, while the same bet on Houston would return $33.90.
Houston won the season series 9-4, so the Astros win the division if the teams finish with the same record. The Rangers have to finish with a better record than Houston over the final four games.
Texas Rangers Need A Better Record Than Houston Astros
If Texas wins all four of its remaining games, Houston would have to win all four of its own to take the division. A 3-1 finish by the Rangers would require the Astros to go 2-2 or worse. At 2-2, Texas would need Houston to go 1-3 or worse, and at 1-3, the Rangers would need the Astros to lose all four.
The Rangers play first Thursday. Kumar Rocker (5-11, 4.47 ERA) starts the series finale against New York at 1:35 p.m. CT, with the Mets going for a three-game sweep. Texas then closes the regular season with three games at the Minnesota Twins, who won all three meetings between the teams earlier this season.
Houston plays four games against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, beginning Thursday at 8:40 p.m. CT. Peter Lambert (8-10, 3.70 ERA) starts the opener. The Athletics are 63-95, and their pitching staff has an AL-worst 5.43 ERA, MLB.com’s Josh Kirshenbaum reported.
The division winner will finish no better than 82-80. That would tie the 2005 San Diego Padres for the worst record by a division champion in the Divisional Era, which began in 1969, according to Kirshenbaum.
Texas lost its first home series since July 20-22 against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday. Jake Burger, whose fifth-inning single drove in the first Texas run, described the team’s mood with one word before expanding on it while speaking with reporters, MLB.com’s Kennedi Landry reported.
“Frustration,” Burger said. “Again, it sucks. We have to play perfectly the rest of the way. Obviously, we don’t want to be in this situation where we’re at now. But we have to go out there and try and get four wins and start tomorrow.”
AL Central Odds And The Wild-Card Race
FanDuel lists the Cleveland Guardians at -126 to win the AL Central and the White Sox at +108. Cleveland (82-76) leads Chicago (81-77) by one game after both lost Wednesday. The White Sox hold that tiebreaker after winning seven of 13 meetings.
The race in the Central also bears on the AL West runner-up. The White Sox currently hold the third and final AL wild-card spot, three games ahead of both Texas and Houston. Chicago holds the tiebreaker over Texas but not over Houston, and Cleveland would lose a tiebreaker to either AL West club, MLB.com’s Andrew Simon reported.
Seattle (74-84) is four games back in the AL West with four to play. The Mariners stay alive only if they win out while Texas and Houston both lose out. FanDuel did not list Seattle in its AL West winner market.
The Rangers have not won the AL West since 2016. Houston would be claiming its eighth division title in 10 seasons.
