The Texas Rangers settled the AL West’s first-half standings on the final swing before the break. Brandon Nimmo lined a ninth-inning single off Josh Hader to score Wyatt Langford, and Texas beat the Houston Astros 6-5 on Sunday to reach the All-Star break at 49-47 — first place in the division, and the only record in it above .500.
Nimmo finished with three hits and two RBIs. Kyle Higashioka supplied the Rangers’ lone home run, while MacKenzie Gore gave Texas four innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts in a start kept deliberately short before the break. Jacob Latz, the Rangers’ lone All-Star, took the win in relief. Latz has been the one constant in a shaky bullpen: a 1.61 ERA, 0.67 WHIP and 18 saves across 44.2 innings in the first half.
For Houston, Cam Smith and Jose Altuve both homered, and starter Cristian Javier lasted three innings, allowing three earned runs with four strikeouts and three walks. The Astros arrived in Arlington with a chance to overtake Texas at the top of the division, dropped two of the three games, and leave at 47-51, three back, after Hader absorbed the loss.
The division race behind this game is as tight as the score suggests. Seattle sits 1.5 back at 48-49, Houston three back, and every club in the West except Texas is under .500. A two-game swing in either direction out of the break reorders the whole thing, and the Rangers’ hold on first will depend on whether anyone besides Latz can protect a lead in the late innings — and on the health of Corey Seager, whose back has been a season-long concern.
For fantasy purposes, Latz is the clear takeaway: he is locked into the ninth inning for a first-place team and has been one of the most efficient closers in baseball, so he holds top-ten reliever value the rest of the way. Nimmo, quietly productive all half, is a stable outfield play in weekly leagues coming out of the break.
