Texas Rangers Close to Clinching Valuable Edge Over Seattle Mariners
As important as it was for the Texas Rangers to beat the Seattle Mariners in Friday’s pivotal series opener and reclaim first place in the American League West, another footnote could be just as valuable when it comes time to decide playoff spots.
The Rangers (85-68) improved to 6-1 against Seattle, with six games still play this season between the division rivals. Texas needs just one more win to clinch the season series.
That’s significant when it comes to tiebreaking scenarios. Head-to-head record is the first tiebreaker, whether it’s for a division title or Wild Card seeding.
Should the Rangers beat the Mariners (84-69) at least once more – the series resumes Saturday at Globe Life Field at 6:05 p.m. – and the teams end up the regular season with the same record, tiebreaker rules go into effect.
Corey Seager and the Rangers hold a 6-1 season series lead over the Mariners.
And Texas would have the edge. That means the Rangers would claim the West title or the better Wild Card seeding. If both Texas and Seattle tie for the third Wild Card, the Rangers would advance to the playoffs and Seattle would stay home.
The Mariners would have to finish with a better record than Texas to avoid the tiebreaker. The Rangers also hold the tiebreaker over the Toronto Blue Jays, having won that season series 6-1.
The Rangers aren’t in the same boat with the Houston Astros (85-69). The defending champs won the Silver Boot series 9-4.
But getting that advantage on Seattle isn’t the end-all, be-all. The Rangers, on a three-game winning streak after losing four in row, realize a lot can change over the last nine games.
“We’ve talked about being resilient all year,” Corey Seager said after Friday’s 8-5 win. “We’ve talked about winning series all year and that’s what it’s going to come down to, right? It’s going to come down to winning the next three series.”
Two home games remain against the Mariners before the final road trip of the regular season – three games at the Los Angeles Angels and four at Seattle. The Rangers, Astros and Mariners are separated by just one game.
“The only thing we’re thinking about is trying to win ballgames out there,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Trust me, they know the situation. We all do. It’s about winning games right now, not where you’re at in standings. It doesn’t matter right now. There’s nine games left. We know how tight it is.
“We’re just going out there trying to do the best we can to win a ballgame. That’s how we have to approach it. We can’t look at other scores. The only thing we need to focus on is going out there and putting together a good ballgame.”
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