Texas is 78-78, Houston 77-79, and one of them wins the AL West. Will the Rangers hold on when the season ends Sept 27?
93% of users predicted YES — the community missed this one. 14 predictions cast.
The Texas Rangers did not hold on to win the AL West. The Houston Astros clinched the division on the final day of the 2026 regular season, September 27, by beating the Athletics, while Texas lost to the Minnesota Twins to fall short.
Both teams entered the finale essentially even, with Houston and Texas having spent the season's last week tied atop the division at 78-78. The Rangers needed a win over Minnesota plus an Astros loss to force a tiebreaker; instead, Texas fell to the Twins and Houston finished off the Athletics, clinching outright. The Astros closed the season at 81-81, and Texas ended at 80-82, meaning the division was decided by Houston's better head-to-head or divisional tiebreaker positioning rather than by either team playing above .500 down the stretch.
The community overwhelmingly expected Texas to hold on, with 93% predicting a Rangers win of the division, making this one of the day's bigger upsets relative to community expectations. The result also meant the AL West would be won by a team finishing at or below .500, a rare outcome that underscored how competitive — and mediocre, by playoff standards — the division was in 2026.