The Houston Astros have been able to hold onto the lead in the American League West for most of the season and their playoff hopes are coming down to the wire. With a 78-66 record entering Monday, the Astros have plenty of important games over the next three weeks that will determine if they can win their ninth division title in the past 10 seasons and perhaps claim a crucial bye in the Wild Card round.
To do that, the Astros will have to have a lot of things fall in their favor including a return to form for Yordan Alvarez and the non-stop string of injuries to come to a halt. But they’ll also need to take care of business in important series with the Toronto Blue Jays, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners.
Astros at Blue Jays (Sept. 9-11)
The Astros’ first litmus test down the stretch begins on Tuesday when they travel to face the Blue Jays. The Jays and Astros may not appear to be an important matchup since they’re in different divisions, but the series could turn out to be an important postseason preview.
The Jays currently own the best record in the American League at 82-61 but their lead is down to a half-game over the Detroit Tigers. Toronto is also trying to hold off the New York Yankees (2 games back) and Boston Red Sox (3.5 games back) in the American League East so they don’t fall into the top Wild Card spot.
The Astros meanwhile are trying to close the distance between themselves and the Blue Jays and revive their hopes of getting a bye in the Wild Card round. With Houston trying to hold onto their own division lead, it’s imperative they take two of three games north of the border this week.
Astros vs. Rangers (Sept. 15-17)
When it comes to the AL West race, things will heat up next week when the Texas Rangers visit Daikin Park. The Rangers seemed to be fading out of contention earlier in the season but have posted a 13-7 record in their last 20 games where their offense is averaging 5.6 runs per game with 31 home runs.
The offense coming alive is great for Texas, who leads the majors with a collective 3.46 ERA. It’s also troubling for the Astros after they dropped a series with the Rangers in Arlington last weekend and now 4-6 against the Rangers this season.
Houston will need to come up with a sweep to earn the season series and the tiebreaker that comes with it. But even winning a series against a surging Rangers team could be enough to keep their perch atop the division.
Astros vs. Mariners (Sept. 19-21)
The Rangers series is just the beginning of an important week as the Astros will welcome the Mariners when Texas leaves. While the Rangers are surging, the Mariners are looking for answers after losing 14 of their past 20 games and falling into the final Wild Card spot in the American League.
In the same way the Astros can derail the Rangers hopes of claiming the division title, they can also deliver the fatal blow to the Mariners if they haven’t turned it around by this point. Eliminating some of the top competition – especially when they have a MVP candidate in Cal Raleigh – should give Houston enough motivation to deliver the knockout blow.
If Houston takes care of business, they can finish the year strong with series against the Athletics and Los Angeles Angels, who are well out of contention heading into the final weeks. That could be enough to give Houston another division title and some momentum into the postseason.