Major League Baseball could have a division winner this season that doesn't finish with a winning record.
That's the state of the truly mediocre AL West, where the Texas Rangers began the final week of the regular seasson with a division-leading mark of 78-78. The second-place Houston Astros are close behind, with the Seattle Mariners clinging to a flicker of life in the event they can win out.
While baseball fans may not see excellence every night, they are very likely to see drama .... all the way to the very end.
The Astros can extinguish the Mariners' flame with a sweep of their two-game series to start the week. Then they'll travel to Sacremento to close out the regular season with a four-game set against the Athletics.
The Rangers, meanwhile,
play three at home against the New York Mets, then head to Minnesota to face the Twins.
AL West standings
- e-eliminated from playoff contention
AL West schedule
Texas Rangers schedule
- Sept. 22-24: vs. New York Mets (71-85)
- Sept. 25-27: at Minnesota Twins (73-84)
Houston Astros schedule
- Sept. 22-23: at Seattle Mariners (73-83)
- Sept. 24-27: at Athletics (61-95)
Seattle Mariners schedule
- Sept. 22-23: vs. Houston Astros (77-79)
- Sept. 24-27: vs. Los Angeles Angels (60-96)
AL West tiebreaker scenarios
MLB no longer uses a one-game playoff if two teams end up with the same record. All ties are broken by a tiebreaker formula. The first step is head-to-head record. Here's how the AL West teams fare in that department (with the Mariners and Astros beginning a two-game series in Seattle on Tuesday):
- Texas Rangers: 4-9 vs. HOU, 8-5 vs. SEA
- Houston Astros: 9-4 vs. TEX, 2-9 vs. SEA
- Seattle Mariners: 9-2 vs. HOU, 5-8 vs. TEX
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: AL West playoff picture: Astros, Rangers, Mariners still alive
