ARLINGTON, Tex. — Four empty bottles of Champagne stand proudly in a row on the back shelf of Ron Washington’s office in the Texas Rangers’ clubhouse. They represent the division titles and American League pennants the team won under Washington, their manager, in 2010 and 2011.

There is no bottle from last season, when the Rangers’ stay in the postseason lasted one game. They did not celebrate clinching a playoff berth, and staged no parties after the Oakland Athletics swept them in the final series of the regular season to steal the A.L. West crown. Texas hosted the wild-card game but fell meekly to Baltimore.

The A’s have won the West again, leaving the Rangers scrambling for a wild-card spot with an 8-15 record in September after Wednesday’s 7-3 victory over Houston. The calendar on the white board in Washington’s office lists next week’s wild-card game, and the division series dates that would follow. Someone has to be optimistic.

“You look at every other city that has a chance at being in the playoffs right now, there’s joy,” Washington said. “I don’t see a whole lot of joy in Arlington, I really don’t. I’m not knocking anybody, I just don’t see it. All they can talk about is how we collapsed. That’s not right.”