Rangers Magic Number Loses Luster After White Sox Loss, Astros Win

It was a game best left forgotten as far as the Texas Rangers were concerned, falling to the Chicago White Sox, 11-7, on Tuesday night.

Nothing went right for Texas on the mound cop. Starter Jacob deGrom failed to get out of the fourth inning and allowed a season-worst eight runs. The bullpen was just inefficient enough to allow Chicago to continue to pad a lead, even though the Rangers got home runs from Danny Jansen, Jake Burger and Justin Foscue to cut the lead at one point to 10-7.

It was forgettable for another reason. The Rangers (66-67) lost the American League West division lead they had acquired just a day prior. On Sunday, the Rangers tied the Houston Astros (66-66) for the division lead and after his Monday's victory in Chicago they took a one-half game lead.

While the Rangers were losing to the White Sox on Tuesday, the Astros were rallying to beat the New York Yankees in The Bronx. That had an impact on the division lead and on the Rangers’ magic number to clinch a playoff berth.

Rangers Magic Number

Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen follows through a swing during a game. — Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen. Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Entering Tuesday’s action, the Rangers had a magic number of 31. That's the combination of Rangers wins, and opponent losses needed to clinch a playoff berth. So the magic number moved on Tuesday — just not the way the Rangers wanted.

By losing to the White Sox the Rangers saw their magic number trimmed to 30. With the Astros taking the lead, their magic number also went down to 30, as the two teams are virtually tied. But the Astros have a wild card. They hold the tiebreaker over the Rangers in case the two teams end up tied for the division lead at the end of the season.

In that case, Houston would take the playoff berth given to the division winner and the Rangers would be at the mercy of the final wild card berth.

As for that final wild card berth, the Cleveland Guardians continued their series with the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday. They rallied to beat the Angels for their sixth straight win and now have a one-game lead on the Rangers. Cleveland now has a magic number of 29 to clinch a playoff berth.

Texas gets another shot at that on Wednesday when they face the White Sox and the Astros continue their series with the Yankees. After that, Texas gets a day off to head to Milwaukee to prepare for the Brewers while the Astros wrap up their series with the Yankees.

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