ONWARD AND UPWARD
Astros, Rangers take different routes as AL West playoff race heats up
Aug 9, 2024, 1:13 pm
ONWARD AND UPWARD
Texas manager Bruce Bochy and the Rangers won't see the rival Houston Astros again this regular season.
The defending World Series champions have some work to do for a chance at a Lone Star rematch from the 2023 AL Championship Series, which Texas won in seven games before beating Arizona for the title.
There's no guarantee for the Astros, either.
Houston (59-55), which has made seven consecutive trips the ALCS, and Seattle are essentially even atop the AL West with the Rangers 5 1/2 games back in a division unlikely to produce a wild card.
The Rangers and Astros won't play in September for the first time since 2018, which means the Texas rivalry will have to play out on scoreboards every night.
Both teams will be on the East Coast this weekend, the Astros in Boston and the Rangers at the New York Yankees in three-game sets starting Friday night.
“Why do you need to look at a scoreboard when you need to win games?” Bochy said. “It’s not going to matter if we don’t start taking series and winning ballgames.”
Texas (54-61) let another series get away after winning the opener against the Astros this week. Houston evened the series with a 4-2 victory when Framber Valdez lost a no-hitter with two outs in the ninth inning on Corey Seager's two-run homer.
A 6-4 victory in the finale gave the Astros a 7-6 edge in the season series, the eighth consecutive time Houston has won the Silver Boot trophy. It had a practical application last year when the Astros held the tiebreaker and avoided the wild card after Texas and Houston finished 90-72.
“It’s definitely going to be a scoreboard thing,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We know that they will fight to the end. Two veteran clubs competing for a division, so I expect them to be in the race until the end.”
The Rangers were within a game of .500 after a four-game sweep of the White Sox that was part of Chicago's AL record-tying 21-game losing streak.
Since then, Texas is 3-9 and stuck in the middle of a 22-game stretch against seven playoff contenders, six of which currently have winning records.
“We have a lot of players who have been around for a while,” All-Star second baseman Marcus Semien said. “Pitching staffs have a good idea how to attack us, and if they execute, it may be hard to go on a 10-game win streak. We need to find a way to restart and take advantage if teams do make mistakes. That’s how we can get back into it.”
The Rangers haven't been in first place since mid-May, as opposed to last year when they led for all but one day into late August and lost at Seattle on the final day of the regular season with a chance win the AL West outright.
Texas then set a major league record by going 11-0 on the road in the postseason, which might give the Rangers the feeling that the road to the AL pennant still goes through them despite playing from behind.
“I think it helps a lot, but we also were kind of in the driver’s seat for the division for the majority of the season instead of playing from behind,” Nathaniel Lowe said. “So we're going to have to play from behind and make up some ground here.”
The Astros have been without star right-hander Justin Verlander most of the season, most recently because of neck discomfort. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is starting a rehab assignment Saturday.
All-Star right fielder Kyle Tucker has been out two months since fouling a ball off his shin, and Houston has been vague about his recovery.
The Rangers are still waiting for the return of ace Jacob deGrom, the two-time NL Cy Young winner who had right elbow surgery in June last year. Three-time Cy Young winner Max Scherzer has been limited to eight starts by back and nerve issues and is on the injured list with right arm fatigue.
Josh Jung, the AL All-Star starter at third base for Texas as a rookie last year, just returned after missing three months with a broken wrist. Evan Carter was a top AL Rookie of the Year candidate before a lumbar sprain in his back sidelined the 21-year-old in late May. The injury ended up costing him the season.
With less than 50 games remaining, reinforcements are welcome, but far from a guarantee of making any difference.
“We’ve got a find a way to get on a roll,” the Rangers' Bochy said. “We’ve been saying that. And how that’s going to happen is pitch a little better and swing the bats a little better. This team has it in them. I still believe that. And you just have to keep believing, too.”
Even with time beginning to run out for the defending champs.
Kyle Tucker launched a three-run homer and matched a season high with four hits against the team that traded him in December, and the Chicago Cubs routed Houston 12-3 on Saturday night to stop the Astros' five-game winning streak.
Tucker also scored four times to pace a Cubs lineup that pounded out 15 hits, including three by Dansby Swanson. Seiya Suzuki, Michael Busch and Nico Hoerner also went deep.
Chicago hit three homers in an inning for the second time this season during a seven-run fourth. Busch and Hoerner had back-to-back solo shots to put the Cubs on top 3-2, and Tucker’s drive made it 7-2.
The offensive outburst came in support of Colin Rea (5-3), who allowed two runs and five hits over five innings. The only blemish on his line was rookie Cam Smith’s two-run homer in the third, which briefly gave the Astros a 2-1 lead.
Smith, part of the package Houston received for Tucker, finished with two hits and has homered in consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Lance McCullers Jr. (1-3) came off the injured list and allowed eight runs on seven hits over 3 1/3 innings.
Isaac Paredes, also part of the Astros' trade return for Tucker, hit his 17th home run.
Tucker’s three-run homer in the fourth that put the Cubs ahead 7-2.
McCullers has a 10.89 ERA in five home starts this season, but hasn’t allowed an earned run in three road starts.
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (8-4, 2.88 ERA) opposes RHP Jameson Taillon (7-5, 4.77 ERA) when the series concludes Sunday.