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The Houston Astros have sights on the Rangers and Yankees in playoff chase.
By Eric Huysman
Texas Rangers
Sep 26, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) runs past Texas Rangers shortstop
Elvis Andrus(1) after hitting a home run in the eighth inning at Minute Maid Park. Astros won 9 to 7. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Astros fans have had conflicted feelings over the past few days, not knowing whether to root for the Los Angeles Angels or the Rangers. The original thought was that we wanted the Angels to lose, because the Astros have struggled on the road this season. If the Astros were to lose a game, they would lose their one game advantage over the Angels. Astros fans were hesitantly rooting for the Rangers.
Maybe that wasn’t the right choice to make as the Astros have won the first two games of the Arizona Diamondbacks series while Texas has dropped two games to the Angels. Yesterday I wrote about how the Astros need to be on the safe side, time to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks. I have switched my allegiance, and I am now rooting for the Angels to win today’s game versus the Rangers. While this could be an issue if the Astros are unable to win today, but the Astros would then play a play-in game on Monday night versus the Angels. The only way the Angels get into the playoff picture is through the Astros. I do have tickets for that game if it happens, do you?
However, the plus side is if the Astros and Angels both win today, the Angles will be eliminated, and the Astros will now be tied with the Rangers for the AL West title. The Astros sat on top of the AL West for most of the 2015 season, so it would be fitting for them to finish ahead of the Rangers. Let’s slow down, I skipped a step, the Astros would have to play a tie-breaker game Monday night at Globe Life Park. This is not a favorable location for the Astros as the Rangers have been the Astros daddy all year-long dominating at Globe Life Park. But, the Rangers are having an Astros-like September nose dive, they are vulnerable at the moment.
The winner would go on to play the Kansas City Royals or whoever has the second-best record following today’s play. The loser would then host a Wild-Card game in which the Yankees will come to town. Can you imagine how much a disadvantage that would be for the Yankees?
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