Texas Rangers Hold Firm in American League West, Wild Card Races

The Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners are all within a half-game of each other in the American League West.

The Texas Rangers got back to being the offensive team they’ve been most of this season with a 15-5 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.

But it did nothing to help the Rangers in their quest to try and upend the Houston Astros in the American League West.

In fact, the race remained static as the Astros came back to beat the Baltimore Orioles 2-1 and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 6-3.

The Astros (85-68) hold a one-half game lead over the Rangers (84-68) and the Mariners (84-68) as the season enters the final 10 games. The Rangers, Astros and Mariners are all off on Thursday before Houston hosts the Kansas City Royals and Texas welcomes Seattle to town.

Below is an update on the race, with the current standings, magic numbers to clinch the AL West and a Wild Card berth, along with the remaining schedules for the teams that are still in the race.

The AL West Race as of Sept. 21

Wednesday’s AL West results

• Texas 15, Boston 5
• Houston 2, Baltimore 1
• Seattle 6, Oakland 3

AL West Standings (Magic Number)

• Houston (85-68): — (10)
• Texas (84-68): 0.5 GB
• Seattle (84-68): 0.5 GB

What’s Left?

• Houston (19): Friday-Sunday: vs. Kansas City (3); Sept. 25-27: at Seattle (3); Sept. 29-Oct. 1: at Arizona (3)
• Seattle (10): Friday-Sunday: at Texas (3); Sept. 25-27: vs. Houston (3); Sept. 28-Oct. 1: vs. Texas (4)
• Texas (10): Friday-Sunday: vs. Seattle (3); Sept. 25-27: at Los Angeles Angels (3); Sept. 28-Oct. 1: at Seattle (4)

AL Wild Card Race as of Sept. 20

Wednesday’s other key AL Wild Card results

• Los Angeles Angels 8, Tampa Bay 3
• Toronto 6, New York Yankees 1

AL Wild Card Standings (Magic Number)

• Tampa Bay (93-60): +8.5*
• Toronto (85-67): +1.0 (10)
• Texas (84-68): — (11)
• Seattle (84-68): — (11)

*-Clinched playoff berth; seeding still TBA

What’s Left?

• Tampa Bay (9): Thursday: vs. Los Angeles Angels (1); Friday-Sunday: vs. Toronto (3); Sept. 26-27: vs. Boston (2); Sept. 29-Oct. 1: at Toronto (3)
• Toronto (10): Thursday: at New York Yankees (1); Friday-Sunday: at Tampa Bay (3); Sept. 26-28: vs. New York Yankees (3); Sept. 29-Oct. 1: vs. Tampa Bay (3)

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.

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