All of a sudden, the Texas Rangers have to win or they have to play at home

With two games remaining, Texas’ lead atop the American League West is now only one game after the Seattle Mariners defeated the Rangers 8-0 on Friday night for their second straight win.

After defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Houston Astros (88-72) closed the gap on the Rangers (89-71). The final two games are scheduled for 2:10 p.m. on Sunday and 6:15 p.m. on Saturday. The Mariners (87-73) have closed the gap to two games with Texas.

With a magic number of two going into their four-game series on Thursday, the Rangers could win the AL West if they won two games and the Astros lost two. To guarantee a Wild Card position, the Rangers simply need to win one of their next two games and the Astros to lose one of their final two games.

In the meantime, the Toronto Blue Jays (89-71) prevailed on Friday to maintain a three-way tie for the second Wild Card slot. With two games remaining against the Mariners and one against the Astros, who currently hold the third Wild Card place, the Blue Jays are leading both teams.

Nathan Eovaldi, the Rangers starter, allowed the Mariners to score three in the third and five more in the fourth. Seattle began to score in the third inning thanks to home runs from Ty France and Josh Rojas.

With the bases loaded and one out in the fourth inning, Brock Burke took over after four of the first five batters against Eovaldi reached base. J.P. Crawford opened the score at 8-0 with a grand slam on a 3-1 pitch.