The Texas Rangers are still alive.
The AL West Division is about to end up with the worst record of a division champion in the history of Major League Baseball, but on the final day of the MLB regular season specifically, that’s of no mind to the Rangers.
All that matters is that the Rangers can still get into the playoffs. They can worry about the rest some other time.
The Rangers are 80-81.
The Astros are 80-81.
One of them will win the division at either 81-81 or 80-82.
The other will go home, and no one outside of those buildings will be particularly bothered by that fact.
It’s been a weird year in the AL West, particularly once the Seattle Mariners never really got on track, but no one really got on track, to be fair.
The Astros and Rangers both won on Saturday night to set up this final-day scenario.
They’ll begin their games on Sunday within five minutes of each other. The Astros play in Sacramento against the A’s. The Rangers are in Minnesota against the Twins.
Texas will have Mackenzie Gore on the mound. It’s a serious opportunity for the guy they traded a haul to acquire and improve their rotation.
If Gore is good, the Rangers still have a chance to be playing later this week.
Rangers Playoff Scenarios
The Rangers are on the worse side of the tied-record scenarios here.
That’s because it’s the Astros, not the Rangers, who hold the tiebreaker between them.
Ties are broken in a divisional tie like this by season-long head-to-head record between the teams. The Astros won the season series 9-4, which matters immensely now.
That means that for the Rangers, it’s not good enough to end up with the same record as the Astros. They have to finish a game ahead.
And that means only one scenario is good enough: Texas has to win, and Houston has to lose.
If the Rangers beat the Twins, and the A’s beat the Astros, then it’ll be the Rangers going to the postseason.
Any other combination favors the Astros.
A Houston win automatically eliminates Texas.
A Rangers loss also automatically gets the Astros into the playoffs.
So it’s simple, but two-pronged: The Rangers have to win, and the Astros have to lose.
Who Would Rangers Play?
If the Rangers make the playoffs, their matchup is already set.
Texas would be the AL’s 3-seed, as its third division champion. They’d host a best-of-three Wild Card Series against the 6-seed.
The No. 6 seed in the AL is the Chicago White Sox, who finished second in the AL Central Division. Yes, they have a better record than the Rangers, but the rules have the division champs as the top-three seeds no matter what.
Either way, the White Sox will be on the road in Texas — but will it be at the home of the Rangers or the home of the Astros? Sunday’s results will determine that.
How Rangers Can Make Playoffs Today Over Astros