There are some tighter races in the American League. The Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros are neck-and-neck as they fight for the NL West title, and there's a logjam in the AL wild card race behind the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees. The Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays lead the AL Central and East, respectively.

Houston Astros ace Framber Valdez is set to hit free agency, and the Los Angeles Dodgers could be in the mix for his next landing spot.

The Seattle Mariners had been gradually shrinking the gap in the American League West, and in a Thursday night thriller, they finally caught the Astros (79-68). Fans can certainly point to injuries, as Houston has been without impactful contributors for large stretches of the season, but the lineup is also underachieving.

This article was originally published on www.si.com as Astros Prospect's Family, Minor-League Team Had Awesome Reaction to First MLB Homer. Have a debut, Zach Cole.

“Houston has the necessary rotation depth to move on from Valdez,” he writes. “Hunter Brown has emerged as a Cy Young candidate in his own right, while the return of Ronel Blanco and Spencer Arrighetti should reinforce the 2026 group.

Here are MLB magic numbers, remaining schedules and tiebreakers for contenders through Thursday, Sept. 11, along with playoff matchups if Wild Card Series began Friday, Sept. 12

A day after losing to the Toronto Blue Jays in extra innings, the Houston Astros rallied to beat them on Wednesday, 3-2.