ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros both lost Wednesday night, and they will enter the final four games of the regular season tied atop the American League West at 78-80.
Texas fell 7-2 to the New York Mets at Globe Life Field for its third straight loss. Marcus Semien broke a 2-2 tie with a solo homer in the eighth inning against his former team, and Brett Baty added a pinch-hit grand slam in the ninth.
Later Wednesday night, Houston lost 6-5 in 10 innings at the Seattle Mariners. The Astros took a 5-4 lead in the top of the 10th. Seattle loaded the bases with one out in the bottom half against closer Josh Hader (4-2), tied it on a full-count walk, and won it on a single to right-center on the next pitch.
Houston won the season series 9-4 and holds the tiebreaker, so the Rangers have to finish with a better record than the Astros to win the division. The AL West champion will finish no better than 82-80, which would tie the 2005 San Diego Padres for the worst record by a division winner in the Divisional Era, which began in 1969, MLB.com’s Josh Kirshenbaum reported.
The tiebreaker leaves Houston in control of the race. Astros first baseman Christian Walker spoke with reporters in Seattle after the loss, according to Kirshenbaum.
“We have a chance to play in the postseason, and we control our destiny to some extent,” Walker said. “It’s exactly what you sign up for.”
What The Texas Rangers Need Over The Final Four Games
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.
Seattle (74-84) is four games back with four to play. The Mariners stay alive only if they win out while Texas and Houston both lose out.
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. The Mets will start rookie left-hander Zac Thornton as they go 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 and is the only probable the Astros have named for the series. The Athletics are 63-95, and their pitching staff has an AL-worst 5.43 ERA, 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.”
Rangers manager Skip Schumaker went to his high-leverage relievers Wednesday with Robert Garcia unavailable. Closer Jacob Latz gave up Semien’s homer after entering in the seventh. Schumaker said the Rangers cannot just watch the scoreboard.
“They know what’s at stake,” Schumaker said. “All 162 are big games, but obviously right now with where we’re at in the race, we have to win games. We can’t just scoreboard watch. We have to win our games to give ourselves a real shot at this.”
“These are must-win games. That’s just the reality of it. It’s not anything short of that. It is must-win time,” Schumaker continued. “We have to stay as positive as we can, as frustrating as it is tonight, and as frustrating as it was last night. We have to come back quickly tomorrow and do whatever we can to win and to give ourselves a shot. That’s just the reality.”
Houston Astros Injuries And The AL Wild-Card Race
Houston used nine pitchers over its two games in Seattle. Right-hander Cristian Javier went on the injured list with a right groin strain after exiting Tuesday’s start. Shortstop Jeremy Peña took a pitch off his right wrist Tuesday and only pinch-ran Wednesday. Astros manager Joe Espada did not rule out Peña hitting or playing the field Thursday, Kirshenbaum reported.
Yordan Alvarez went 2-for-4 Wednesday and enters the final series chasing the AL Triple Crown. His .316 average leads the league by seven points, and his 41 homers are tied for the AL lead. His 102 RBIs are eight behind the league leader.
The AL West runner-up would need the third and final AL wild-card spot to reach the postseason. The White Sox (81-77) hold that spot and trail the Cleveland Guardians (82-76) by one game in the AL Central after both lost Wednesday. 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.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have clinched the other two wild-card spots. The AL Central champion is likely to be the No. 2 seed and receive a bye into the Division Series, according to Simon.
The Rangers have not finished first in the AL West since 2016. Texas won the 2023 World Series as a wild card.
Seattle opens a four-game series against the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.
