Overview
- Seattle sealed the division with a 9-2 win over Colorado, ending Houston’s multi-year run atop the AL West.
- Houston trails Detroit by one game for the final AL wild card with four to play and likely needs three or four wins to stay alive, with one more game in West Sacramento before three in Anaheim; Baseball Reference pegs their odds at 27.5 percent.
- The Astros’ offense has sputtered in the second half with 242 runs in 62 games (3.9 per game), a .675 OPS, eight shutouts, and a 29-39 slide over their past 68 contests.
- Injuries have piled up with 30 players hitting the injured list, and the roster thinned after Alex Bregman and Yusei Kikuchi departed and All-Star Kyle Tucker was traded to the Cubs.
- The city’s struggles extend beyond baseball as the Texans opened 0-3 and cut safety CJ Gardner-Johnson, while the Rockets lost guard Fred VanVleet to a torn ACL.