ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers have turned a productive homestand into a share of first place in the American League West.
Texas defeated the Los Angeles Angels 5-3 Sunday at Globe Life Field, winning two of three in the series and four of six overall against the Angels and Washington Nationals.
The Rangers improved to 65-66, matching the Houston Astros atop the AL West after Houston lost 7-6 to the Athletics. Seattle sits three games behind the division leaders.
Ezequiel Durán and Elias DÃaz hit solo home runs Sunday, while Cal Quantrill delivered six scoreless innings. Quantrill allowed six hits, struck out six and did not issue a walk, extending his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Jacob Latz worked the ninth inning for his 26th save.
The Rangers now begin a three-game road series Monday against the Chicago White Sox, who lead the AL Central at 68-62.
Kumar Rocker is scheduled to start Monday for Texas.
Jacob deGrom is lined up for Tuesday against left-hander Anthony Kay, while MacKenzie Gore is scheduled to face Sean Burke in Wednesday’s series finale.
All three games are scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Central at Rate Field.
The postseason implications are significant.
Texas has 31 games remaining and enters the final stretch tied for the division lead despite being one game below .500.
Winning the AL West would guarantee the Rangers a postseason berth, while finishing behind Houston or another division rival would leave Texas competing for one of three American League wild-card spots.
After spending much of the season below .500, the Rangers have put themselves in position to control their postseason path.
The challenge now is sustaining that momentum against a first-place White Sox team.
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