EDITORIAL: The Race is On: Astros, Rangers giving reasons to stay locked in on MLB

Its September in East Texas, which means were in full football mode.

The Longhorns, Aggies and Red Raiders are all in the Top 25, and the Cowboys and Texans got under way (although not in winning fashion) this week.

But as has been the case for the last decade, the Houston Astros are giving fans in the state a reason to not close the book quite yet on the MLB season.

And for the second time in three years, they have some company from the Texas Rangers, their Lone Star rivals.

With just two weeks left in the season, each team is still in the thick of the playoff race, although theyve managed to do it in remarkably different ways.

For the Astros outside of the standings it has looked like a cursed season.

Early in the year, Houston was missing what would be an entire starting pitching rotation.

That was followed by Yordan Alvarez missing more than three months with a broken bone in his hand, the teams leading hitter Isaac Paredes likely being lost for the season with a hamstring injury and Carlos Pena and Jake Meyers missing plenty of time with injuries of their own.

The latest wave of injuries has closer Josh Hader out for at least the rest of the regular season and Luis Garcia having his return after 28 months shut down after seven innings.

Yes.

Its been one of those kinds of seasons, but the Astros have still managed to remain at or near the top of the American League West standings through it all.

Theyve also gotten a big assist from the Mariners, who loaded up at the trade deadline before floundering enough to not leave the Astros in their dust a few weeks ago.

Then there are the Rangers, who battled their typical share of injuries for much of the year, although it didnt compare to the problems in Houston.

Even when mostly healthy, the offense struggled so much that they were a longshot for the postseason as little as about two weeks ago.

Thats when the real injury bug bit the Rangers in a big way.

Corey Seager and Marcus Semien went on the injury list.

They were joined there by Astro killer Adolis Garcia.

It didnt help that Nathan Eovaldi, one of the best pitchers in the game, was shelved with an injury of his own that will have him out for the rest of the year.

So it would only make sense that the injury bug would have officially buried them.

In fact, many fans were waving the white flag on their seasons.

The Rangers didnt do the same.

Instead, its seemed to be the motivating force behind a late-season run as they are in the thick of a three-team race in the American League West with the Astros.

For those with short memories, it was only two years ago that the Rangers and Astros met up in one of the more memorable ALCS series in a while.

It eventually went seven games before the Rangers took out the Astros on the way to a title.

This time around, it doesnt look like another ALCS matchup is in the cards.

However, the tension is still right there.

Between the Astros, Rangers and Mariners, it appears that one of the teams will be left at home when the playoffs start.

And the bonus of making the playoffs could be keeping your rivals at home for the postseason.

The path to the World Series doesnt exactly go through Texas this year, but it could be a destination along the way as Houston goes for its third title in nine seasons while the Rangers seek their second championship in three years.

We know nothing is going to keep East Texans away from their football.

But sports fans should still keep an eye on the baseball field with October just around the corner..

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