The AL West Can Be Won at .500 — and Its Leader Just Lost by 15 Runs
Houston sits first at 64-64 despite an 18-3 mauling by the Angels, in a division where the top three teams have identical minus-46 run differentials.
Somebody has to win the AL West. On the evidence of Thursday night, nobody particularly wants to.
The Houston Astros were hammered 18-3 at home by the last-place Angels — Zach Neto delivered a 5-hit, 7-RBI night — and yet woke up Friday still in first place at 64-64. The Texas Rangers blanked Washington 2-0 to close within a single game at 63-65, with the Mariners (60-68) 3.5 back. Check the [Torch standings](/standings/diamond) and one number jumps out: Houston, Texas and Seattle all carry a run differential of exactly minus-46. Three contenders, one shared identity: below average, and in it anyway.
An island of mediocrity
What makes the AL West race so jarring is the company it keeps. The Brewers own baseball's best record at 79-49. The Dodgers (77-51), Rays (76-51) and Braves (75-53) are all cruising toward October, per MLB.com's standings. Every other division leader is at least 11 games over .500; the AL West leader is dead even with 34 games to play. For historical context, no division champion in a full season has finished below .500 — the low-water mark is the 82-80 Padres of 2005.
Why the division matters more than it should
Here's the kicker: whoever survives this race banks a guaranteed playoff berth that almost certainly isn't coming through the side door. The AL wild-card picture belongs to the East — the Yankees (72-55) and Red Sox (68-59) hold the first two spots comfortably — while the scrap for the third spot is its own pile-up, with Texas, Minnesota, Toronto, Cleveland and Detroit separated by about 1.5 games, a jumble FOX Sports' playoff picture charitably calls tightly bunched.
Translation: for Houston and Texas, the division is close to the only road in. A stretch run between two .500 teams for a full postseason spot — with 15-run losses along the way — may not be pretty. It will absolutely be worth watching. The [schedule](/matches/diamond) does the rest.