The Battle for the West

The battle for the west will begin this weekend. Texas and Houston have 6.5 games separating them, Texas having the advantage. In 2015, the Rangers came roaring from behind to take the division from Houston. Now the Astros are attempting to do the same thing.

Texas has Martin Perez (7-7, 4.29 ERA), Lucas Harrell (1-0, 4.50 ERA) and Yu Darvish (2-3, 3.29 ERA) going this weekend. Perez is coming off his best start of the season, Harrell looked decent in his debut, and Yu Darvish had some tough luck in his last start.

The new Rangers line up is beginning to gel as well. Both Carlos Beltran and Jonathan Lucroy have hit a home run. Lucroy looks good behind the plate. This team is fun to watch again.

The Rangers have taken 9 out of 10 so far from the Astros this season. They need that trend to continue if they want to seal up the West. The battle will take place over these last two months. The Rangers appear to have the advantage. They need to follow through on that advantage however.

Houston has the more difficult of the two remaining schedules, playing more road games and more good teams. That doesn’t mean anything. The Rangers still have to battle to win the West. Fans should get ready for what should be a very entertaining ride. Seattle could still sneak in the mix as well. I have always believed, however, that the West will come down to the two Texas clubs.