Mariners re-emerge as a Rangers threat as the Astros fail to close the door on Seattle

As the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros play hot potato with the AL West lead, it seems as if both clubs have forgotten about the Seattle Mariners. The Mariners have long seemed dead in this chase, but the Astros have left the door open for Seattle to climb back into the mix.

Houston just wrapped up a quick, two-game set with the Mariners, and after taking the first game by a score of 7-0, the Astros had a chance to put the final nail in Seattle's coffin. Instead, they'd lose the finale in epic fashion.

The two hated rivals finished the first nine innings tied at four as the Astros turned to Josh Hader to keep Seattle in check in the bottom of the ninth at home. Houston would take the lead, scoring a run on a Yanier Diaz triple that scored the ghost runner, but then stranded Diaz on third. Leading 5-4, they sent Hader back out for the Mariners' last licks.

The six-time All-Star had thrown 19 pitches in the ninth but hadn't be used for six days. He would proceed to load the bases and then walk in the tying run. The next batter, Josh Naylor, singled off of Hader's 44th pitch, walking off the Astros for a 6-5 victory.

With both the Rangers and Astros sitting at 78-80, the 74-84 Mariners are still alive in the division race. It will be a tall order for them, but if both Texas and Houston go 0-4 and Seattle wins out and goes 4-0, they'll win a complex set of tiebreakers to finish first in the AL West and send both the Rangers and the Astros home for October.

The Mariners remaining alive is as much the Rangers' fault as it is the Astros

Houston would have successfully eliminated the Mariners with a victory, but the Rangeres aren't blameless here, either. Had they taken care of business against the Mets last night, they'd have sole possession of first place and would've put it out of Seattle's reach. Instead, Texas saw its own All-Star closer falter when Jacob Latz gave up the go-ahead homer to Marcus Semien.

The Rangers have one more game against New York this afternoon, and then travel to Minnesota for three games to close out the season. The Astros have four remaining against the Athletics out in West Sacramento. Meanwhile, the Mariners have a four-game set at home against the Los Angeles Angels.

At 75-84, the Twins are the toughest of the three opponents by a large margin. The A's sit at 63-95, while the Angels are teetering on the brink of crossing the 100-loss threshold at 60-98.

Of course, it's not just the recent failings against the Mets that have the Rangers in this precarious position. Had they performed better against the AL West foes, specifically the Angels and A's, they'd not only be in a stronger position with regard to the tiebreaker, but they'd also have a better record overall. Unfortunately, every chance Texas has had to take control of the division in 2026, it has botched. Now, it could cost the team the playoffs in such an insanely disappointing way.

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