Does anyone want to win the American League West Division?
Right now, the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers sure are making it seem like the answer is a resounding no.
Of course, they’d love to go to the playoffs. But in a division that hasn’t featured an impressive team all year, the finish to the MLB regular season sure does seem like it’s going to be underwhelming.
Someone has to win it, though. They’ll even be the AL’s No. 3 seed despite the possibility of the division winner having a losing record.
The Astros and Rangers have both had a chance to pull away from one another.
Instead, on nights like Wednesday, they keep find ways to hang out in one another’s mediocrity.
AL West Standings
Entering Thursday’s action on Sept. 24, the Astros and Rangers are tied atop the AL West Division.
Both teams are 78-80 with four games to play.
The Astros hold the tiebreaker for having won the season series.
Astros Blow Lead to Mariners
Houston seemed like it’d end Wednesday night holding the best record in the division.
The Astros opened up a 4-0 lead on the Seattle Mariners in the top of the third inning.
But then the Mariners answered with three in the bottom of the third, and one more in the bottom of the fifth.
The game remained 4-4 until the 10th inning.
The Astros did get their bonus runner across in extras when a Yainer Diaz triple put Houston ahead 5-4. They couldn’t get Diaz home, though.
Then in the bottom of the 10th, the Mariners loaded the bases for Julio Rodriguez. The star centerfielder worked an RBI walk to tie the game at 5.
Then it was Josh Naylor who delivered in the clutch with a walk-off single, a 6-5 Mariners win and a bad Astros loss.
How Rangers Lost to Mets
It was always going to be tough for the Rangers on Wednesday night against Mets pitching phenom Nolan McLean, and that turned out to be quite true.
McLean allowed just three hits and two runs over 7.0 innings while striking out five, and the Mets’ bullpen finished the job.
In the meantime, the Rangers gave up three home runs. Juan Soto hit the first, a two-run blast. Then in the eighth inning, Marcus Semien went deep to break a 2-2 tie. And in the ninth, Brett Baty pinch-hit and blasted a grand slam for the final 7-2 margin.
Four different Rangers each had a hit, all singles. Jake Burger and Evan Carter each drove in a run in the bottom of the fifth when the Rangers tied the game at two.
Schedule Notes
The Astros head to Sacramento and close the year with four games against the Athletics.
The Rangers are at home on Thursday for an afternoon game against the Mets, and then they head to Minnesota for a three-game series against the Twins to end the regular season.
Astros, Rangers Don’t Want To Win AL West Division