The AL West is on a knife’s edge, people, with the Houston Astros holding just a single-game lead over the Texas Rangers. And guess what? The Boston Red Sox are rolling into Arlington for a three-game set, ready to throw a wrench into everything for the Rangers.
Rangers Are On The Brink, And Boston Holds The Key
This series is absolutely critical. A strong showing from Boston could literally hand the division crown straight to the Astros. Imagine that drama! If the Rangers can snag two wins or, even better, pull off a sweep, they could jump into the AL West lead with only a week and a half left in the season. Meanwhile, the Astros are facing off against the Kansas City Royals. Now, the Royals did play well against the Sox recently, but on paper, one of these matchups looks a little easier than the other. The Rangers have some serious pop, too. Jake Burger and Joc Pederson are both crushing it with 26 homers each, while Corey Seager and Ezequiel Durán each have 17 dingers.
Boston’s Pitching Staff Has One Guy Worth Watching
Boston’s pitching staff has been a mixed bag, to say the least. Patrick Sandoval, in his last outing against his old team, the Angels, gave up 4 runs and 10 hits over 6.0 innings, throwing 99 pitches. He fanned 7 and only walked two, but he wasn’t fooling anyone out there. The Sox lost that one 6-1. Then there’s Jake Bennett, who also got absolutely shelled by the Angels, giving up 9 hits and 3 home runs in just 5.1 innings. The Sox ended up losing 6-4. It felt like he almost got out of trouble so many times, but a couple of those homers just barely cleared the wall.
But then you have Sonny Gray. He tossed a quality start against the Royals recently, though he didn’t get the win as the Sox fell 3-2. This dude has been a workhorse, going at least 6.0 innings in four of his last five outings, and keeping runs down, allowing fewer than 4 in four of those five. Gray leads the entire league with 17 wins, and he’s chasing 18 on Wednesday! That’s impressive, no matter who you root for.
The Rangers aren’t going to make it easy, though. Jacob deGrom is slated to start game one. He handled the Red Sox back in June, giving up just 2 runs over 6.0 innings. Mackenzie Gore gets the ball for game two, but the third game is a big question mark for Texas. Cody Bradford and Kumar Rocker are the likely options, and both have had their struggles. Plus, World Series legend Nathan Eovaldi is back from the IL, but he’s coming out of the bullpen, as is Jordan Montgomery.
So, get ready, baseball fans. Sonny Gray is going for his 18th win on Wednesday, and the outcome of this series in Arlington is going to tell us everything about who’s taking control of the AL West as the season winds down. This is the kind of late-season drama we live for!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Over the Monster.
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