It all comes down to game No. 162 for the Texas Rangers — and a little help.
Texas (80-81) will play its most important game of the season when it faces the Minnesota Twins (76-85) in the regular-season finale Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
The Rangers are tied with the Houston Astros (80-81) for first place in the American League West. Houston holds the tiebreaker by winning the season series (9-4), which means Texas must defeat Minnesota and hope the Astros lose to the Athletics on Sunday afternoon.
The team that wins the division will head to the postseason, and the other team will head home for a long offseason.
“It’s a chance, and we’re excited for it,” Rangers veteran catcher Danny Jansen said. “We’re going to control what we can. Let’s go out there and leave it all on the field.”
Texas manager Skip Schumaker has faith in his players. He spoke after his team’s 6-2 win over the Twins on Saturday in an outcome that evened the three-game series at one victory apiece.
“Those guys don’t go down without a fight,” Schumaker said. “You can tell that they play for each other. They’re going to give every single ounce they have and empty the tank, especially this last week.
“They have never quit on me. They’ve never quit on each other the whole year. It might be a .500 record right now. Do I think they are a better-than-.500 team? Of course I do. They all do as well. The identity is on the surface to me.”
Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.59 ERA) will start in the regular-season finale. He has 174 strikeouts in 170 2/3 innings in his first campaign with Texas.
Gore is searching for his first victory since Sept. 1 against the Athletics. In his most recent outing, he drew a no-decision after allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits over five innings in his team’s 6-3 loss to the New York Mets on Tuesday. Gore walked one and struck out two.
This will be his third career start against Minnesota. He is 0-2 with a 3.75 ERA in his first two meetings and has walked eight and struck out 14 in 12 innings.
The Twins will counter with right-hander Dean Kremer (4-5, 4.97 ERA), who will make his 17th start of the season and his 10th since arriving in Minnesota in a trade with the Baltimore Orioles on July 31. Kremer has a 3-1 record with a 3.80 ERA in nine starts with the Twins.
In four career starts against the Rangers, Kremer is 0-2 with a 5.14 ERA. He has walked eight and struck out 17 in 21 innings.
The Twins have been eliminated from playoff contention, but young players such as Luke Keaschall will look to finish 2026 on a high note.
Keaschall, 24, went 2-for-3 with a double and a triple Saturday. He is hitting .283 with 10 home runs, 52 RBIs and 20 stolen bases this season.
“If you go from probably June 1 on and look at (Keaschall’s) numbers, he’s just been so effective,” Twins manager Derek Shelton said. “He’s finishing really strong.”
–Field Level Media
