Texas Rangers fall to Seattle, will open playoffs at Tampa Bay in AL Wild Card round on Tuesday
Heading into their series with the Seattle Mariners the Texas Rangers needed only one victory to punch their ticket to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
The Rangers got that victory on Saturday when they beat the Seattle Mariners 6-1. However, going into Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Mariners the Rangers needed one more win or a Houston Astros loss to win the American League West and receive a first-round bye in the MLB playoffs.
The Rangers couldn’t pull off that final victory, falling 1-0 to the Mariners in their regular-season finale. Meanwhile, the Houston Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1 to claim the West Division title.
The Rangers hitters couldn’t get anything going against Seattle pitcher George Kirby who gave up zero runs off three hits with seven strikeouts in seven innings.
The Rangers pitchers did their best to match Seattle.
Starting pitcher Dane Dunning gave up one run off four hits with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings of work. The Rangers’ much-maligned bullpen gave up zero runs over the rest of the game to give the Rangers hitters a chance to win the game.
The Mariners scored their lone run of the game in the fourth inning off a groundout with the bases loaded with Rangers catcher Jonah Heim just barely tagging Eugenio Suárez after he had crossed home plate.
At the top of the ninth inning, Rangers rookie sensation Evan Carter led off the inning with a single to put the game-tying run on first.
The Rangers had Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Mitch Garver up to bat with a chance to tie or take the lead but recorded three straight outs including two flyouts by Seager and Garver to end the game.
The Astros took care of business to win the AL West division for the third straight season and for the sixth time in the past seven years. The Astros will now earn a first-round bye in the MLB playoffs and play the winner of the Wild Card Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins.
Despite losing the Al West crown on the final day of the regular season the Rangers had their first winning season in six years and won 22 more games than they did last season.
The Rangers will play the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Wild Card Series beginning at 2:08 p.m on Tuesday at Tropicana Field. The first two games will be broadcast on WFAA-TV.
The Rangers did have success against the Rays this year winning the season series 4-2, including a three-game sweep when the teams last played in mid-July.
The Rangers will play all three games of their Wild Card series at Tropicana Field. The winner of the Rangers-Rays playoff series will then play The Baltimore Orioles in a best-of-five series that will begin on Saturday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards at a time to be announced.
This story was originally published October 1, 2023 at 4:56 PM.
