Rangers on brink of winning AL West

The American League West will be clinched at some point in the next four days, and the Texas Rangers know exactly what they need to do to win their first division title since 2011.

Win.

One win will eliminate the Los Angeles Angels, the Rangers’ opponent for their final four games. Two wins will eliminate the Astros and clinch the whole thing.

It won’t take more than two wins after the Rangers dumped the Detroit Tigers 6-2 on Wednesday and the Angels lost to last-place Oakland 8-7. That leaves the Rangers’ magic number at two over the Angels and the Astros, too. The Astros won 7-6 late in Seattle to jump over the Angels back into second in the AL West and back into the lead for the second AL wild card.

“You can’t help but feel it,” manager Jeff Banister said. “But I also believe in the fact that these guys are in-the-now players, no opportunity wasted. I believe they concentrate on right now, what’s going on right in front of their face. They really don’t get caught up in what’s down the road.”

Adrian Beltre and Mike Napoli hit two-run homers and Robinson Chirinos had a solo shot in support of Yovani Gallardo, who allowed two runs in 5  1/3 innings to win his 13th game of the season.

But Gallardo was behind 2-0 after the Tigers’ first turn, as J.D. Martinez and Tyler Collins knocked in a run apiece with singles. The deficit didn’t last long, however.

Shin-Soo Choo singled with one out in the Rangers’ first, and Beltre followed with his 17th homer of the season. Chirinos started the third with his 10th of the season to spark a four-run inning and put the Rangers in the lead for good.

Beltre doubled three batters later and raced home as Prince Fielder dropped a blooper into center field for his 96th RBI of the season. Napoli was next, and he crushed the first pitch from Matt Boyd over the seats in left field.

That was it for both offenses, though the Tigers had at least one base runner in every inning. Gallardo (13-11) escaped the fifth after the Tigers opened with a walk and a single, but the Fort Worth resident was yanked after consecutive one-out singles in the sixth.

“He showed up realy well for us and did what Yovani does,” Banister said. “He didn’t give in.”

Four relievers finished off the series win. The bullpen, a reborn Choo and a reinvented Beltre have been the main cogs in the Rangers’ surge from nine games back July 20, eight games back Aug. 2 and 5  1/2 games back Aug. 26.

Banister has been hesitant to look too far ahead, but the insertion of Chirinos into the starting lineup was an indication that the Rangers are thinking about potential playoff rosters.

They need to know if Chirinos, their Opening Day catcher, can take on a more prominent role behind the plate. Chirinos was making only his second start since July while dealing with a nagging injury to his left biceps.

“This guy’s been grinding and working,” Banister said. “You saw the impact that he can make when he’s behind the plate. It seemed like he picked up right where he left off.”

The same holds true with Josh Hamilton, who is likely to start when the Angels start right-handers.

But Banister and pitching coach Mike Maddux had been looking at the Angels series having significance. That’s the primary reason they pushed left-hander Cole Hamels out of the Houston series last weekend, a move that lined him up for the regular-season finale Sunday.

“I felt like that series was going to mean a lot,” Banister said. “We wanted to go ahead and have that choice.”

That game still could have significance, but the Rangers know what they need to do against the Angels.

Win.

“We’ve got one goal, and that’s to go out there tomorrow and take that one and finish our business,” first baseman Mitch Moreland said. “We have one more series to go, and we need to come out ready to go.

“We can’t really control what anybody else is doing. We’re playing great baseball right now. What we do is in our hands, so we’ll go out tomorrow and take care of our business.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 10:35 PM with the headline "Rangers on brink of winning AL West."