Best record in 1-run games: Rangers reigning

The Rangers not only boast the best record in the American League as August draws to a close. They’re also making history in one way.

After an 8-7 walk-off win over the Mariners on Tuesday, the Rangers are a Major League-best 30-8 in one-run games — a .789 winning percentage. But that’s not just the top mark this season — it would be the best single-season record in one-run games in baseball’s modern era.

Since 1900, no Major League team has been better at scratching out wins than Texas this season. The Rangers have a chance to break the record set by the 2012 Orioles, who went 29-9 in one-run games (a .763 winning percentage) en route to an American League Wild Card berth.

The most amazing aspect of the Rangers’ success in close games is that their bullpen has an AL-worst 4.72 ERA, but Texas makes up for it with its remarkable hitting in high-leverage situation. The Rangers have a Clutch score of 7.15, according to FanGraphs, where zero is average and 2.0 is considered excellent.

In short, Clutch score measures how much better or worse a player does in high-leverage situations than he would have done in a context neutral environment, and most players have a score somewhere between -1 and 1, suggesting that players usually perform as well in “clutch” situations as they do overall. Texas’ score of 7.15 would be the fifth-best since divisional play began in 1969.

As a result of the Rangers coming through when it matters most, they stand alone with a …

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