Astros Fall Further Behind Rangers in AL West as Royals Sweep, Mariners Swept by Texas

With a week remaining in the 2023 MLB regular season, the Texas Rangers are leading the AL West, while the Houston Astros lost an important home series this weekend. The Rangers swept the Seattle Mariners, winning their third game on Sunday (TEX 9, SEA 8), while the Astros were swept by the Kansas City Royals (KC 6, HOU 5).

Here are the updated AL West standings following Sunday’s games:

1. Texas Rangers: 87-68
2. Houston Astros: 85-71 (2.5 GB)
3. Seattle Mariners: 84-71 (3 GB)
4. Los Angeles Angels: 70-86 (17.5 GB)
5. Oakland Athletics: 48-108 (39.5 GB)

The Rangers were struggling with a disappointing 4-16 record recently, which dropped them from first place and out of playoff contention. However, they have made a comeback, winning 11 out of their last 15 games, including a sweep against the Mariners and a four-game sweep against the Blue Jays last week.

In contrast, the Astros have struggled, winning only three out of their last 15 games, including a 2-7 record against the Royals and Athletics. These two teams are significantly behind in the standings. The Astros finished their regular season home games with a 39-42 record, their first losing season at home since 2014.

The Mariners also had a tough weekend, losing all three games against the Rangers and going 8-14 in September. They have struggled against teams other than the Angels and Athletics this month. After a strong run in August, where they went 20-4, the Mariners briefly held first place in the AL West, but now they are outside of the playoff bracket with one week to go.

Although the Rangers currently have a 2.5-game lead, the race for the AL West is not over. Next week, the Rangers will play four games against the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Here is the remaining schedule for each team:

Despite being in third place and three games behind, the Mariners still have a chance to win the AL West because of their head-to-head matchups against the Astros and Rangers. If they win all seven of their last games, they will secure the division title, regardless of what the Rangers and Astros do in their remaining games. The Mariners had two eight-game winning streaks last month, so they are capable of going on a winning streak again.

If the Astros win all six of their remaining games, they still need the Rangers to lose at least three games in order to have a chance at catching up. If the Astros finish with a 6-0 record and the Rangers finish with a 4-3 record, both teams would have the same 91-61 record. However, the Astros hold the tiebreaker because they won the season series 9-4. Therefore, the Rangers’ 2.5-game lead over the Astros is effectively a 1.5-game lead.

The Rangers have a magic number of five to secure the AL West title. This means that any combination of Rangers wins and losses by the second-place team (either the Astros or Mariners, depending on the day) totaling five will clinch the division championship for the Rangers. It would be their first division title since 2016. The Rangers took care of business this weekend, while the Astros and Mariners faltered, causing their hopes for the division to diminish.