Texas arrived at Game 162 with a narrow door still open, but the Rangers could not push through it. A 6-4 loss to Minnesota on Sunday at Target Field ended their 2026 season and left an unusually weak American League West there for the taking.
Key takeaways
- The Rangers needed a victory over the Twins and an Astros loss to Oakland to claim the AL West and reach October.
- MacKenzie Gore gave up one run over 2 1/3 innings after a difficult final month in which the offseason addition appeared drained.
- Texas managed only three baserunners through seven innings against Dean Kremer, whose ERA entering the day was 4.97.
- Elias Díaz and Danny Jansen each hit solo home runs, while Corey Seager supplied a two-run homer in the ninth.
- The Rangers finished with a bullpen carrying a 4.44 ERA, 10th among American League clubs.
A final-day snapshot of a lost opportunity
The division race was not supposed to be so forgiving. Yet Houston was positioned to become baseball’s first division champion with no more than an 81-81 record, a mark that would make the Astros the lowest-win division winner in major league history.
The previous low points belonged to the 2005 Padres at 82-80, the 1973 Mets at 82-79 and the 2006 Cardinals at 83-78. The 2026 AL West had already become the sport’s poorest division by the numbers. Texas still could not turn that landscape into a postseason berth.
Sunday’s defeat was not the sole reason the Rangers missed out, but it looked familiar. Gore, the club’s marquee winter pickup, could not work deep into the game. Once he departed after 2 1/3 innings, Texas was again asking a middling relief corps to cover too much ground.
The lineup had its own shortage. Josh Jung and Joc Pederson, both productive bats when available, were sidelined by fractured wrists. Without them, the Rangers did little early against Kremer. Minnesota’s starter held Texas to three runners over the first seven frames despite bringing a 4.97 ERA into the afternoon.
The bats arrived too late
There was some late thunder, but not enough of it. Díaz and Jansen, both catchers, provided solo shots. Seager drove a two-run homer in the ninth, trimming the margin but not changing the outcome.
That sequence summed up the larger season: occasional reminders of the club’s power, followed by too many innings without enough players available or producing. The Rangers needed their established stars on the field and carrying the offense. Too often in 2026, they did not have either.
