Friday's defeats guarantee the AL West will produce MLB's first full-season division winner with a .500-or-worse record: Texas lost 10-2 to Minnesota, and Houston fell 6-5 to Oakland despite holding the tiebreaker over the Rangers.
Oakland scored six runs in the sixth for a 6-1 lead. Houston rallied to 6-5, but Jeremy Peña grounded into a ninth-inning double play after the go-ahead run reached base.
Jacob deGrom gave up eight runs in four innings for Texas, and top hitter Josh Jung broke his hand after a hit-by-pitch; he is likely done for 2026. Boston swept the Cubs to secure the AL's No. 5 seed and will face the Yankees in a best-of-three Wild Card Series starting Tuesday in the Bronx. The Yankees split with Baltimore and were waiting out a storm to see whether Sunday's Game 162 could be played.
