Rangers Trusting MacKenzie Gore with AL West Title in Balance on Sunday

The Texas Rangers don’t control their own destiny. They can only try to win on Sunday and hope for the best.

With one game remaining in the regular season, the Rangers (80-81) remain tied with the Houston Astros for the AL West lead and will give the ball to left-hander MacKenzie Gore to start the season finale against the Minnesota Twins.

It will be up to Gore to give the Rangers the best start possible on Sunday as they try to keep themselves in the race to win the division. However, Texas does not control its own destiny.

Game 162

Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore throws a baseball. — Texas Rangers pitcher MacKenzie Gore. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

With the Rangers and the Astros entering action on Sunday tied for the division lead, the Rangers must win and the Astros must lose for Texas to win its first division title since 2016. It’s the only scenario that puts Texas in position to host an AL wild card series on Tuesday. That's because the Astros won the season series with the Rangers, thereby giving them the tiebreaker.

While the Rangers start their game with the Twins at 2:10 p.m. central, the Astros begin their game with the Athletics at 2:05 p.m. The two teams will be playing concurrently, and each will be doing a lot of scoreboard watching. One will fly home celebrating while the other will fly home knowing their season is over.

Gore has not been at his best of late. In his last seven starts he is 1-2 with a 5.23 ERA with 20 strikeouts and 19 walks in 31 innings. He hasn't pitched more than five innings in any of his last three starts, though he only allowed one earned run in his last start against the New York Mets on Tuesday. He'll be pitching Sunday's finale on normal rest.

With an overtaxed bullpen, Texas could use a game from Gore like he pitched on August 21 against the Los Angeles Angels. In that contest he threw six shutout innings, giving up two hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was his best start of his last seven outings.

It is clear who the Rangers or Astros will play in the wild card series. The Cleveland Guardians clinched the AL Central on Saturday, giving them the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye. The Chicago White Sox have clinched the final wild card berth and will travel to either Arlington or Houston for a wild card series that begins on Tuesday.

The Rangers will be without third baseman Josh Jung should they advance to the playoffs. The Rangers placed him on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right hand fracture. Designated hitter Joc Pederson is also on the injured list with a left hand fracture but he is eligible to be activated during the wild card series.

That is of course if the Rangers advance. Part of that will be up to Gore.

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