Keuchel, Astros beat Rangers 4-2 to tighten AL West race

Astros: RHP Lance McCullers (5-7) starts the first game of the three-game series at Seattle on Monday. The Twins remain 1½ games behind the Astros and a game behind the Angels for the second wild card with six games remaining in the regular season. They’re a half-game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels and 1 1/2 games in front of Minnesota.

The Rangers spread their own American League West steer within the Astros to 4½ online games after stomping Houston regarding the 8th upright time period. Not to be forgotten the Twins play four games against the Indians and three against the Royals to finish the season.

Still following? OK, let’s start with what what happens if the Rangers, Astros Astros, Angels and Twins finish all with the same record. The Jays have a seven-game road trip to close the season, starting Monday in Baltimore.

While the Astros managed to keep themselves alive a race for the division that they led for so long, the seasons final week has these two teams headed in different directions.

Keuchel has allowed two runs over his last two starts after giving up nine in 4 2-3 innings against Texas on September 16.

The final wild card spot is up for grabs between the Astros, Angels, and Twins. That would nearly certainly means a date with the Yankees in New York, likely on Wednesday the 7th, in what would be one insane bit of pre-playoff travel mayhem. If Houston wins out. the best the Angels can do is tie. One thing that’s virtually certain is that the potentially curse-busting Chicago Cubs won’t be playing inside the friendly confines of Wrigley Field, at least initially.

If the Astros had dropped, they’d have already been some one-/4 gaming apps back of Texas along with 4… If they win that they’ll face, you guessed it, Pittsburgh or St Louis, and more on that in just a bit. While those teams are a combined 14 games under.500, they’re all on the road, where the Astros are 17 games under.500. Pittsburgh got their latest taste of Arrieta, who has had himself one heck of a second half, on Sunday evening in Chicago when the hurler had Buccos batters on their knees, begging for anything they could handle with the ace taking a flawless game into the seventh inning (he also hit a home run, just for fun). With Texas’ third loss in a row, Houston pulled within 1½ games of the Rangers in the AL West. Tuesday, Mike Fiers makes his ninth start for Houston. The Angels play three games against the Athletics and four against the Rangers.

Astros: Gomez, who had missed the last two weeks with a left intercostal strain, took more aggressive swings Sunday and will work out on the field before Houston’s game Monday in Seattle, manager A.J. Hinch said.