ARLINGTON, Texas _ This will be remembered as the season in which the Rangers lost their full-nelson hold on the Houston Astros.
The Rangers dropped to 7-10 on the season against Houston with an 11-2 loss Monday night at Globe Life Park. The Astros took advantage of errors by shortstop Elvis Andrus and third baseman Will Middlebrooks to score eight runs, seven unearned, on only four hits in the fourth inning.
The Astros have unseated the Rangers as American League West champions. It is a dramatic reversal of form for both clubs.
"They've done very well against us the last couple years," said Houston left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who will start Tuesday. "If we're able to eliminate them from postseason play, that would be awesome."
That could happen as soon as Tuesday. The Rangers' tragic number for elimination from the race for the AL's second wild card is two. A Minnesota win and a Rangers loss would do it for this club.
Eliminating the Rangers would be a small payback for Houston. The Rangers have subjected the Astros to seasons of torment.
For 2009-16, the Rangers went 74-28 against Houston. When the Rangers won the AL West in the last two seasons, they were 28-10 against the Astros.
"They have pretty much had their way with us," Astros center fielder George Springer said. "This year, we've been able to switch that, and that's been a key part of our success. You have to be able to beat teams in your division."
Houston manager A.J. Hinch said his club did not develop a complex about facing the Rangers.
"The hurdle was taking the division title away from them," Hinch said. "But I would have said the same for anybody. ... The fact that Texas had dominated the division the last couple seasons was the challenge.
"We didn't have a fear of this ballpark or this team or what was at stake. It was a competitive spirit to try to win what we felt we could win."
There are long-term implications in this for the Rangers. To win the West in the future, they will have to contend with Houston.
The Astros could be good for an extended period. They have seven core players who are 27 or younger: infielders Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman, outfielder George Springer and pitchers Chris Devenski, Ken Giles and Lance McCullers.
Houston also has a loaded player-development system.
The Astros put together a package of prospects to obtain top-shelf right-hander Justin Verlander from Detroit without depleting their system. Houston put four players in Baseball America's midseason rating of the top 100 minor league prospects. All four were among the top 58.
"It's fun that both teams have arrived competitively at the same time," Hinch said. "It produced a really good rivalry that I think every baseball fan in the state of Texas will enjoy. The mini-hatred that goes with these rivalries is well worth it. We're proud of be a part of it."
The rivalry flared again in the Ranger second.
Joey Gallo led off with a homer. On the next pitch, Houston starter Collin McHugh came inside to Carlos Gomez, who had a disappointing stay with Houston. After fouling the next pitch, Gomez began purposefully striding toward the mound, bringing out both benches.
The incident did not go beyond that, and the principals stayed in the game.
The former teammates Gomez and McHugh seem to have a problem.
On May 1, Houston starter McCullers threw behind Mike Napoli after he had homered. As both teams took the field, McHugh chirped at Gomez from the top step of the Astros' dugout.
To be continued.
