Tied at 79-80 with three left, Texas still has to finish ahead of Houston

The American League West is still a two-club problem, and Thursday only reset the arithmetic.

Josh Jung and Corey Seager homered, Kumar Rocker worked five innings, and the Texas Rangers beat the New York Mets 3-1 at Globe Life Field to close the home schedule, the Associated Press reported. Houston beat the Athletics 7-5 later Thursday night in the opener of a four-game set.

Both clubs finished the night at 79-80 with three regular-season games left, and the Astros still hold the head-to-head tiebreaker after winning the season series.

That last clause is the entire weekend. Under the current format, a shared final record does not produce a one-game playoff for the division. Finishing even with Houston sends the Astros into October as the AL West champion. Texas has to finish with the better record.

What Thursday actually bought

The win stopped a three-game skid and kept Texas from falling a game behind before the calendar flipped to the final weekend. Jung's two-run homer in the first put the Rangers ahead for good. Seager led off the sixth with his 19th homer, snapping an 0-for-15 stretch.

Rocker allowed one run on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Jordan Montgomery retired the side in the ninth for the save, the Associated Press reported.

Those details belong to the scoreboard. The standings consequence is narrower: Texas and Houston remain tied, and every result from Friday through Sunday has to be read against the other club's line.

ESPN's standings list both teams at 79-80 and first in the AL West. Seattle sits further back and is already eliminated from practical contention in ESPN's clinching markers. For the next 72 hours the division is a head-to-head standings race without a head-to-head series left on the schedule.

Minnesota, and a Friday that has to start clean

Texas opens a three-game set at Target Field on Friday at 8:10 p.m. CT. Jacob deGrom (11-10) is scheduled to start against Twins right-hander Joe Ryan, according to the AP and ESPN's probable-pitchers listing. The Twins swept three games in Arlington in mid-June and never trailed in that series, the AP noted in Thursday's wrap.

A strong deGrom night does not automatically create daylight if Houston also wins at the Athletics. A loss does not end the race if Houston drops the same evening. The only clean path remains a better final ledger than Houston's.

The Rangers went 45-36 at home this season and 34-44 on the road, per ESPN's team splits. Closing on the road against a club that already took a series in Texas is the harder half of the remaining slate. Friday is the first of three chances to force Houston to keep matching.

Parallel nights, one tiebreaker

Houston continues its series at the Athletics with a Friday first pitch at 9:40 p.m. CT on ESPN's team schedule. Both clubs have three games left. Both are under .500. CBS Sports has spent the week pointing at the historic possibility of a sub-.500 AL West champion if neither club climbs back to even.

The practical takeaway for Texas does not change with that league-wide framing. The Astros already banked the season series. The Rangers have to win the remaining standings race outright.

Thursday bought a share of first place and a trip to Minnesota with the division still available. Friday starts the part that decides whether 79-80 becomes a footnote or the last time the clubs were tied.

Sources

CBS Sports

ESPN

ESPN

ESPN