ARLINGTON, Texas — With roughly one-third of the baseball season still to play and the trade deadline less than a week away, the Texas Rangers find themselves in a favorable spot in the AL West — simply by playing better than .500 ball.
At 54-52, Texas is the only team in the division that isn’t below the break-even mark. The Rangers hold a two-game advantage over in-state rival Houston (53-55) and lead reigning division champion Seattle (52-55) by two and a half games. That cushion grew after Texas claimed three of four games in a home series against the Mariners.
Designated hitter Joc Pederson, who slugged two home runs in Monday’s series-closing 7-3 victory over Seattle, reflected on the significance of winning games at this point in the season. “Every win matters, but I think the ones right before the deadline, there’s always a little more stress … especially in a situation where you could go either way,” Pederson said. “But I think we put ourselves in a good spot, and we’ve got to continue to play like that.”
Seattle, which captured its first AL West crown since 2001 last season, has now dropped 11 of its last 16 games. During the four-game series in Texas, the Mariners led for just three innings total — briefly in Sunday’s contest after a four-run seventh inning that lifted them to a 6-4 win. That victory also snapped a remarkable Rangers streak, as it was the first time in 46 games this season that Texas lost a game in which it led after six innings.
First baseman Jake Burger emphasized how the Rangers viewed the series. “I think we looked at the series as if we split it, it was a failure, with where the AL West is and the AL wild card is,” Burger said. “I think we showed what type of team we can be.”
Texas won its only World Series championship in 2023 after reaching the playoffs as a wild card, but the team’s last AL West title came back in 2016. The Rangers missed the postseason entirely in the two years that followed their championship, a stretch during which only the AL West division winner advanced — a scenario that could repeat itself this season.
Houston, meanwhile, had dominated the AL West by winning seven of the eight division titles prior to last season. The Astros had spent a month in third place before a ninth-inning four-run comeback Monday night gave them a 6-4 win over last-place Los Angeles in the first game of a three-game series — their sixth victory in seven games.
Texas has already locked up the season series against Seattle, leading 7-3 with three games remaining at Seattle in early September, giving the Rangers a potential tiebreaker advantage. The Mariners still have five games left against Houston but hold a commanding 7-1 edge in that season series.
In the Texas-Houston rivalry, the Astros lead 6-4 in their season matchup. The two teams will close out their series with three games in Houston next weekend, after the Rangers first travel to AL-best Tampa Bay for a three-game set.
First-year Rangers manager Skip Schumaker made clear his team’s mindset heading into the stretch run. “There are guys in there that are doing whatever they can to make that second-half push, because they know what it means when you get there,” Schumaker said. “Whatever we do, we’re focused on winning to try to get in. … It’s go-time.”
The Rangers have managed to stay in first place despite significant injury setbacks. Two-time World Series MVP Corey Seager has missed the last 20 games due to lower back inflammation — he also sat out 19 games earlier this season with the same issue and another 12 following a concussion. Third baseman Josh Jung is also sidelined with a left calf strain, and both opening-day catchers, Danny Jansen (right forearm strain) and Kyle Higashioka (right flexor strain), are on the injured list.
Seager completed back-to-back live batting practice sessions and could begin a brief minor league rehabilitation assignment as early as Tuesday. There has also been speculation about whether the Rangers might explore trading the 32-year-old shortstop, who is in year five of a 10-year, $325 million contract.
Veteran left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery, who was a trade-deadline pickup that contributed to the Rangers’ 2023 World Series title before leaving for Arizona in free agency, is nearing his season debut — possibly in the final game of the Tampa Bay series. Montgomery missed all of 2025 recovering from a second elbow reconstruction surgery before re-signing with Texas at the beginning of spring training.
