The Texas Rangers were all but out of the postseason at the beginning of September. Fans and pundits alike had them as one of the biggest collapses of the modern sports era.
On September 19th, Bruce Bochy had enough and let the umpire know it. He was ejected, and the Rangers came back and won the game.
They have not lost since that happened. The biggest series of the season happened at Globe Life Field over the weekend, and the Rangers swept the Seattle Mariners.
Not only did the Rangers sweep the Mariners, the Astros were swept by the Kansas City Royals, giving the Rangers back first place in the West.
As of Monday, September 25 the Rangers magic number is 5. They have 7 games left.
The pitching, fielding and hitting have all been better. Evan Carter has been a shot in the arm.
Adolis Garcia and Josh Jung returning to the lineup has been huge for this team. Jose LeClerc and Jonathan Hernandez are contributing out of the pen.
The Rangers have to take care of business against the Angels. If they can do that, it doesn’t matter what the Astros do.
Controlling your own destiny is huge in sports, and that’s where the Rangers currently sit. They control their own destiny.
Win and they are in. Lose and they could still be in, but win and it is guaranteed.
Things to watch the final week of the season:
The Astros and Mariners play each other for three games. If the Mariners win that series the Ranger are AL West Champions.
The team from Houston will not go down quietly, nor would I expect them to. They will fight until the end, but it appears the end is near.
The Rangers need to take care of business against the defunct Angels, but we all know that the Rangers are good at underperforming against bad teams.
Two out of three against the Halos would go a long way to winning the division. As I said, the Rangers control their own destiny.
The Rangers have all the momentum and all the talent to finish strong and take the American League West. Its time to see if they actually will. Should be a fun week!
