Rangers Trim Magic Number After White Sox Blowout and Astros Off Day

The Texas Rangers haven't won a series on the road since late June, when they took two out of three games from the Cleveland Guardians. On Monday night, they set the stage to break that drought.

The Rangers (66-66) moved back to .500 for the season by blowing out the Chicago White Sox,11-2, at Rate Field. Texas took the lead in the first inning and never let up. Jake Burger and Wyatt Langford hit home runs while Corey Seager continued his hot streak by going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two doubles. They were among six Rangers that had extra-base hits off the White Sox (68-63), who are in the lead in the AL Central.

As the season gets closer to September and the final weeks of the campaign, the Rangers are working to claim their first playoff berth since 2023 when they won the World Series. Monday’s win also gave them more clarification around their magic number to clinch that berth with 30 games remaining.

Rangers Magic Number

Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter follows through on a swing using his bat. — Texas Rangers center fielder Evan Carter. Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Entering Monday's game, the Rangers had a magic number of 32. That's the combination of Rangers wins and opponent losses that they needed to clinch a playoff berth. The math was a little murky because they were tied with the Astros for the AL West lead and they were tied with the Cleveland Guardians for the last wild card berth in the American League.

The math became a little less murky after Monday's action.

Since the Rangers won on Monday, they trimmed their magic number to clinch a playoff berth to 31. They also took a half-game lead over the Astros in the division, who were idle as they were traveling to New York to begin a series with the Yankees.

The Astros are also dealing with some chaos as owner Jim Crane and general manager Dana Brown parted ways on Monday. It comes at a time in which the Astros are coming off a losing homestand and Crane reportedly believed drastic measures were needed to rescue Houston's season.

There's also the matter of the Guardians. Cleveland and Texas entered Monday's action tied for the final wild card berth. The magic number applies here too. The Guardians were on the West Coast facing the Los Angeles Angels, who the Rangers just took two out of three games from at Globe Life Field. A loss from Cleveland would help the Rangers further in their quest to claim a playoff berth.

The Guardians beat the Angels, 4-2. Because the Rangers lead the division now, Cleveland has a half-game lead over Houston for the final wild card berth.

The chase for the playoffs continues Tuesday for the Rangers as they continue their series with the White Sox.

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