The Angels clawed their way back from the brink of extinction Saturday night, scoring 5 runs in the ninth inning against the Rangers to secure an improbable 11-10 victory and keep their playoff hopes alive. But for all of yesterday’s magic, the Angels find themselves back on the brink, and there’s plenty still at stake for the Rangers.
If the Angels lose, they go home. If the Astros beat the Diamondbacks, the Angels go home. If the Angels win, and the Astros lose, the two teams would meet Monday in Houston for a one-game tiebreaker to determine who wins the second Wild Card spot, and the right to play yet another do-or-die game, this one against the Yankees.
The Rangers, who have already secured... Read More
The Rangers clinched at least a Wild Card berth with their victory Thursday over the Angels, while the Angels are still fighting for their playoff lives. But don’t think for a moment that the Rangers lack any motivation, as they are one more win – or an Astros loss away – from clinching the AL West, and thereby sparing themselves the crapshoot that is the Wild Card.
The Angels and Twins both trail the Astros by one game in the fight for the final spot in the postseason and a date with the Yankees on Tuesday. The Angels play three more against Texas; the Twins face the AL Central champs, the Royals; and the Astros square off with the Diamondbacks.
With just over two weeks left in the 2015 Major League Baseball season, the playoff picture is largely settled, except where it’s not, and where it’s not, OH MAN is it not.
The intrigue begins in the AL East, where the Toronto Blue Jays hold a slim 3.5 game lead over the New York Yankees. A series sweep for the Yankees, whose recent surge includes taking two of three from the first-place Mets in last weekend’s interleague series, would put them back at the top of the division, and a sweep for the Jays would likely put the division out of reach for the Bombers.
There are four MLB games on Sling TV this weekm and all four of them have playoff implications.
There’s no tighter divisional race in baseball right now than the AL West, where the Houston Astros hold a slim 1.5 game lead over their intrastate rival Texas Rangers. With less than a month to go in the regular season, that’s close enough to make the Astros nervous even if the two teams weren’t scheduled to meet seven more times in 2015, but they are, including Tuesday’s game at 8pm ET on ESPN.
The Rangers are surging, coming off a 12-4 spanking of the Oakland A’s Sunday, where offensive leader... Read More
Some thought the slugger would never be the same after undergoing neck surgery last season. Those doubts, however, should have subsided during spring training when he used teammate Rougned Odor to do squats.
“I can feel both my arms. It feels good,” Fielder said. “That helps. That definitely helps when you’re hitting.”
Yes, feeling your arms indeed helps, and his numbers back up that crazy theory. Fielder is hitting .344, good for fourth in the American League, and also has five home runs and 23 RBI through the Texas Rangers first 38 games of the season.
