MINNEAPOLIS - Saturday did not decide the American League West. It only erased every escape hatch except Sunday.
The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 6-2 at Target Field, the Associated Press reported, after a rain delay of just over two hours. Danny Jansen drove in two runs and homered; Jake Burger added his team-leading 28th home run. Hours later in West Sacramento, Houston answered with a 13-2 rout of the Athletics, also per the AP.
Both clubs finished the night at 80-81. The division is still tied. The path is not.
Houston owns the season-series tiebreaker after going 9-4 against Texas, a point CBS Sports and Sporting News both underscored heading into the finale. Matching records award the West to the Astros. Texas has to finish ahead - win at Minnesota and get an Athletics win over Houston on the same day. Anything short of that combination sends the Rangers home.
One win is not enough
Sporting News framed Sunday in those exact terms: the Astros clinch with a win over the Athletics or with a Rangers loss. The Rangers need both results. There is no wild-card fallback for either club. The West winner is in; the other is done.
CBS Sports noted earlier in the weekend that the eventual champion will become the first full-season division winner at .500 or worse, passing the 2005 Padres (82-80). After Saturday, that floor is locked in. At best, Sunday's winner finishes 81-81. A split of the two games leaves Houston at 80-82 if Texas loses, or Texas at 81-81 only if Houston also loses.
MacKenzie Gore is confirmed to start for Texas against Twins right-hander Dean Kremer, CBS Sports' RotoWire desk reported Saturday night. Gore carries a 4.59 ERA across a career-high 170 2/3 innings. Minnesota's Kremer (4-5, 4.97) has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last three starts, the AP noted in its Rangers wrap.
Houston had not named a Sunday starter after using Hayden Wesneski for seven innings in the blowout, the AP reported.
A thinner infield for the final nine
Josh Jung is on the 10-day injured list with a broken right hand after Friday's hit-by-pitch, the AP confirmed in its Saturday game story. Nicky Lopez exited in the fourth Saturday with a left ankle and heel issue after a bunt attempt; Michael Freeman took his place.
NBC Sports later reported that Lopez said he expects to be fine for Sunday and will likely be available against a right-handed starter.
Those details matter for a club that already spent Friday explaining how thin the middle of the order had become. Saturday's lineup still produced: Jansen and Burger went deep, and the bottom third of the order went 6-for-11 with four RBIs and four runs in the AP account.
