Mariners Surge Past Texas Rangers, Astros as AL West Favorites

The Seattle Mariners moved into a tie with the Texas Rangers atop the American League West, with the Houston Astros just a game back.

The race starts now. At least it feels that way.

The Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners are tied for first place in the American League West at 72-56 with 34 games to go. The Houston Astros (72-58) are just a game back with 32 games left on their docket.

For a team not trailing anyone in their division, the reeling Rangers are in danger of seeing all they’ve accomplished this season go up in smoke. Of the three division contenders, Texas now has the worst odds to win the AL West and make the playoffs.

The Rangers are given just a 25.6% chance to claim the division and 67.8% shot to reach the postseason, per FanGraphs. Those numbers were 56.8% and 95.1% on Aug. 15 when Houston was 3.5 games behind Texas and Seattle was 7.5 back

The Rangers have lost about 30 points in both categories in a little more than a week.

The Mariners are now the favorites to capture the AL West at 38.3%, edging Houston’s 36.1%. The Astros are slightly higher when it comes to playoff projections at 79.7% to Seattle’s 79.4%.

How have the Rangers’ fortunes turned so dramatically? An eight-game losing streak coupled with Seattle winning nine of its last 10 is the chief culprit. The Astros have lost three in a row, but remain right in the thick of the race.

Texas had held sole possession of first in the AL West for 111 straight days, going back to May 6. The Rangers have been alone or tied atop of the division for 146 of the season’s first 147 days.

That can change Saturday at the Minnesota Twins. The Rangers, already down 2-0 in the four-game series after a 12-2 blowout loss Friday, send Max Scherzer (12-5, 3.77) to the mound to stop the bleeding. First pitch is set for 6:15 p.m.

The Mariners face the lowly Kansas City Royals at 3:10 p.m., while Houston is at the Detroit Tigers at 5:10 p.m.

There’s a chance the Rangers could be looking up at Seattle before the first pitch is thrown in Minneapolis. For a club that’s been chased virtually all season, that’ll be a new view.

You can follow Art Garcia on Twitter @ArtGarcia92.

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