ARLINGTON - The Texas Rangers do not hold a magic number yet, but the schedule finally tilts toward the place they have played best.
Nine of their final 12 games are at Globe Life Field, starting Tuesday against the Boston Red Sox, and the club enters that stretch one game behind the Houston Astros in the American League West after taking two of three at Arizona.
Sports Illustrated's Matt Postins reported Texas at 74-76 and Houston at 75-75 entering the homestand, with Texas' home mark listed at 40-32. Nolan Writin's Jackson Kruse published the same AL West table after the Diamondbacks series and noted that Houston holds the season-series tiebreaker, which effectively makes a pure catch-up path two games if the clubs finish tied.
Both outlets place the Rangers inside the wild-card picture as well - roughly 1.5 to 2 games off the final berth depending on Monday's results elsewhere.
Monday brought help without Texas playing. Cleveland lost to the White Sox and Toronto lost to Detroit, tightening the wild-card board. SI wrote that the Guardians still held the last wild-card spot but sat a half-game ahead of the Blue Jays and 1.5 games ahead of the Rangers after those results.
Texas would rather win the West - and the home wild-card series that comes with it - than rely on the outside lane, manager Skip Schumaker's club has made clear all month.
Homestand map: Boston, Toronto, Mets, then Minnesota
The Red Sox arrive first for three games. Boston entered the series having won seven of its last 10, per Nolan Writin, and already owns a comfortable cushion in the wild-card standings.
After Boston, Texas hosts Toronto - a club it swept in four games in June, preserving a tiebreaker even if the Blue Jays take the weekend series - then the New York Mets before closing the regular season at Minnesota.
