On the 1st of October, the Houston Astros took home their 6th division title in 7 years after a striking victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Big home runs from Alex Bregman in the 2nd inning and Jose Abreu in the 7th inning propelled the offense to score eight runs on the way to the win.
The pitching staff also did their job, as Christian Javier had a promising start, allowing zero runs through six innings pitched. The bullpen only gave up one run through the last three innings, putting the cherry on top to a division clinching victory.
“It was a great win for the team, it really gave me hope going into the playoffs” Ricky Requena ‘24 said.
However, in order to win the division, the Astros needed some help from their division rivals up in the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Mariners needed to beat the Texas Rangers in game 162 in order for Houston to secure the AL West title. Since we won the season series against the Rangers, finishing the season with the same record as them would give us the tiebreaker and the division.
For the first time, probably ever, Astros fans were rooting for the Mariners so they could celebrate a division title. And they delivered. The Mariners beat the Rangers 1-0 in a dominant pitching performance, allowing for champagne bottles to be popped in the Astros locker room later that night.
“Having to cheer for the Mariners was stressful and hard, but I’m happy they got the win so that we could win the division” Carter Nowak ‘24 said.
The AL West division title makes Houston the #2 seed in the American League, giving them a bye from the Wild Card round. This bye pushes the Astros first playoff game to Saturday, October 7, but the opponent is yet to be decided.
Houston’s opponent will be decided by a Wild Card matchup between the #6 seed Toronto Blue Jays and the #3 seed Minnesota Twins, two teams looking to wash away long World Series droughts.
“I can’t wait to go watch the playoff games at Minute Maid, I think we have a real shot at winning it all this year” Billy Theroux ‘24 said.
With the Astros first ALDS game this weekend, the players should be ready to go after a long, difficult season filled with many ups and downs. Astros fans are ecstatic to see what this year’s playoff run has to bring, as they hope to see it completed with back-to-back World Series titles brought home to Minute Maid Park.
