Texas manager Bruce Bochy and the Rangers won’t play the rival Houston Astros again this regular season.
The defending World Series champions need to do some work to have a chance at a rematch with Texas from the 2023 AL Championship Series, which Texas won in seven games before going on to beat Arizona for the title.
The Astros don’t have a sure thing, either.
Houston (59-55), which has reached the ALCS seven years in a row, and Seattle are essentially tied for the top spot in the AL West, while the Rangers are 5 1/2 games behind in a division where a wild card spot seems unlikely.
This will be the first time since 2018 that the Rangers and Astros won’t play each other in September, so their rivalry will be decided by scores from other games.
Both teams will be on the East Coast this weekend, with the Astros in Boston and the Rangers playing three games against the New York Yankees starting Friday night.
“Why do you need to look at a scoreboard when you need to win games?” Bochy said. “It’s not going to matter if we don’t start taking series and winning ballgames.”
Texas (54-61) lost another series after winning the opener against the Astros this week. Houston tied the series with a 4-2 win when Framber Valdez lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning on Corey Seager’s two-run homer.
A 6-4 win in the final game gave the Astros a 7-6 lead in the season series, making it the eighth straight time Houston has won the Silver Boot trophy.
This was important last year when the Astros used the tiebreaker to avoid the wild card after Texas and Houston both finished 90-72.
“It’s definitely going to be a scoreboard thing,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We know that they will fight to the end. Two veteran clubs competing for a division, so I expect them to be in the race until the end.”
The Rangers were close to .500 after sweeping the White Sox in a four-game series, which was part of Chicago’s AL record-tying 21-game losing streak.
Since then, Texas is 3-9 and is in the middle of a 22-game stretch against seven playoff contenders, six of which currently have winning records.
“We have a lot of players who have been around for a while,” All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien said. “Pitching staffs know how to handle us, and if they do their job well, it might be tough to go on a 10-game win streak.
We need to find a way to start fresh and take advantage of any mistakes teams make. That’s how we can get back into it.”
The Rangers haven’t been in first place since mid-May, unlike last year when they led for almost the entire season until losing to Seattle on the last day of the regular season, missing out on winning the AL West outright.
Texas then set a major league record by going 11-0 on the road in the postseason, which might make the Rangers feel like the path to the AL pennant still goes through them, even though they’re currently playing from behind.
“I think it helps a lot, but we also were kind of in the driver’s seat for the division for most of the season instead of playing from behind,” Nathaniel Lowe said. “So we’re going to have to play from behind and make up some ground here.”
The Astros have been missing star right-hander Justin Verlander for most of the season, most recently due to neck discomfort. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is starting a rehab assignment on Saturday.
All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker has been out for two months after fouling a ball off his shin, and Houston has been unclear about his recovery.
The Rangers are still waiting for the return of ace Jacob deGrom, the two-time NL Cy Young winner who had right elbow surgery in June last year. Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer has been limited to eight starts due to back and nerve issues and is on the injured list with right arm fatigue.
Josh Jung, the AL All-Star starter at third base for Texas as a rookie last year, has just returned after missing three months with a broken wrist.
Evan Carter was a top AL Rookie of the Year candidate before a lumbar sprain in his back sidelined the 21-year-old in late May. The injury ended up costing him the season.
