The Houston Astros on Saturday celebrated clinching a playoff spot with T-shirts and a subdued toast. A day later, after rallying to claim a bigger prize in their crosshairs, the Astros held an all-out locker room rager of cigars and champagne-and-beer showers that left puddles on the plastic-covered floors.
A season of injuries and inconsistencies ended with another division title. Even for a team that won the World Series last year, that is worth celebrating.
The Astros on Sunday rallied to clinch their third straight American League (AL) West title, beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1 behind Cristian Javier’s six strong innings and Alex Bregman’s two-run homer.
Photo: AP
“A lot of people wanted to know what it’s like if the Astros didn’t win the division,” Bregman said before popping the cork on a champagne bottle. “I guess we’ll never know.”
Needing a win and a Texas loss to win the division, the Astros did their part by jumping on Kyle Nelson (7-4) from the first pitch. Houston had a 5-0 lead after two innings and Javier (10-5) held an Arizona lineup to three hits.
Kyle Tucker had a sacrifice fly to finish with 112 RBIs, the most in the American League and third in the majors. Jose Abreu added a two-run homer in the seventh inning to clinch Houston’s sixth AL West title in seven years after the Rangers lost 1-0 to Seattle.
The Astros have a first-round bye in the playoffs, while Arizona are to play at Milwaukee in a best-of-three National League wild-card series that starts today.
“At the end of the day, we kept it within striking distance and put it together at the end, which makes it very special,” Houston general manager Dana Brown said.
Houston had a solid follow up to their second World Series title, finishing 90-72 after going 106-56 last season. The Astros’ fourth straight victory to close the regular season gave manager Dusty Baker his 13th season with at least 90 wins.
“I didn’t want to end on 89 and we got to 90,” Baker said in between champagne dousings.
The Diamondbacks backed into the playoffs, scoring two runs in three games against the Astros to close the regular season on a four-game losing streak. Arizona finished 84-78 after going 74-88 last season and losing 110 games the year before.
“You definitely want to finish on a high note, but it’s whatever and you’ve got to throw it away,” Diamondbacks outfielder Alex Thomas said. “Now we’ve got October baseball to focus on.”
The Astros and Diamondbacks had dual celebrations on Saturday night after clinching playoff spots.
Houston did it with a 1-0 victory over Arizona that led to a muted reaction in the clubhouse for the reigning World Series champions.
The Diamondbacks celebrated in the dugout when Cincinnati’s 15-6 loss to St Louis clinched their first playoff berth since 2017. They had a much more raucous celebration after the game, a party that spilled over into the pool behind Chase Field’s right-center wall.
Still within reach of the title, the Astros jumped on the Diamondbacks early, needing two pitches to take a 2-0 lead.
Jose Altuve opened with a single and Bregman followed with his 25th homer, a two-run shot to left. Houston scored another run on Arizona first baseman Emmanuel Rivera’s throwing error and went up 4-0 on Jeremy Pena’s run-scoring single.
Tucker hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning and made it 6-0 in the fifth with a triple and head’s up baserunning after Diamondbacks shortstop Jordan Lawlar held the relay throw.
“Maybe we were a little flat, most of us were probably up a little late last night,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “For sure there was a little lull in focus and energy. I get that, but let’s push that aside.”
Elsewhere, the Tigers tamed the Guardians 5-2, the Red Sox routed the Orioles 6-1, the Nationals beat the Braves 10-9, the Pirates mastered the Marlins 3-0, the Dodgers downed the Giants 5-2 and the Angels outplayed the Athletics 7-3.
The Rays stung the Blue Jays 12-8, the Royals defeated the Yankees 5-2, the Brewers blanked the Cubs 4-0, the Phillies thrashed the Mets 9-1, the Cardinals edged the Reds 4-3 and the Padres pipped the White Sox 2-1 in 11 innings.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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