Astros clinch AL West: Houston secures division title for seventh time in eight years despite sluggish start

The Houston Astros clinched the American League West with a 4-3 win over the Seattle Mariners Tuesday night in Houston, their seventh division title in the last eight years. (The only time they didn’t win the division was the truncated 2020 season, so the last time they didn’t win the West in a full season was 2015.) During this run, the Astros have won at least 100 games four times. They won’t get there this season and might not even match last year’s 90, the previous low win total of their AL West titles. Still, a division title counts regardless of the number of wins. 

It does seem like the Astros are headed to the wild-card round of the playoffs, as they are most likely to slot as the third seed in the American League behind the Yankees and Guardians. That pits them against the sixth seed (third and final wild-card) of the AL. 

The journey this season to the division crown was one of the tougher ones the Astros have had. They started the season a woeful 12-24. They trailed in the division by as many as 10 games after a loss on June 18 dropped them to 33-40. The Mariners collapsed a bit to give the Astros an assist here, but since that low point the Astros have gone 53-32 (a full-season 101-win pace). 

The Astros have faced plenty of injury adversity, too. Starting pitchers Cristian Javier, José Urquidy and J.P. France were lost for the season. Lance McCullers Jr. hasn’t thrown a pitch in the majors in 2024. Neither has Luis García. Justin Verlander has only made 16 starts. Several relievers have been lost, too. Star outfielder Kyle Tucker played in just his 75th game Monday night. 

Still, the Astros have powered through. Some players from the organization have stepped up and a few additions were made from outside the organization, including lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi who came over at the trade deadline. 

Some of the longest tenured Astros have been rocks for the team through the adversity, including Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Framber Valdez. They’ve also gotten outstanding work from unlikely rotation stalwart Ronel Blanco while Hunter Brown and Spencer Arrighetti have stepped in and made contributions as well. 

The Astros have raised the bar to the point that losing in the playoffs will be a failure for them. They haven’t fallen short of the ALCS since 2015 and have won four pennants and two World Series in that stretch. 

For now, though, the Astros can celebrate. They’ve overcome a 10-game deficit to once again reign supreme in the AL West.