Astros on fifth division title in six years: 'Best in the West'

Mere days after they punched their sixth postseason ticket in five years, the Houston Astros blanked the Tampa Bay Rays 4-0 on Monday to secure the franchise’s fifth American League (AL) West championship in the same time span.

It was déjà vu for the Astros, who, around the same time last year, also dispatched the Rays for the division crown, with the differences being the latest feat was achieved on the road, someone not named Carlos Correa is in the shortstop position, and the current group isn’t far from the century mark in victories. 

“Best in the West,” the Astros proclaimed in a postgame tweet.

The night for the Astros began on a positive note when second baseman Jose Altuve drilled his 25th home run (HR) of the season in the first.

Houston then held on to a 1-0 lead until the sixth, with a Yordan Alvarez base hit to right field scoring Altuve to tack on another run for the visitors.

Third baseman Alex Bregman’s runs batted in (RBI) double followed Alvarez’s smack and was ultimately the Astros’ go-ahead play of the evening.

Astros pitching was successful in preventing the scoreboard from changing in the Rays’ favor.

According to ESPN, starting pitcher Luis Garcia collected his fifth straight win by virtue of four strikeouts and two hits surrendered.

Rookie hurler Hunter Brown and veteran reliever Hector Neris helped protect what became Houston’s 16th shutout of the season, ESPN reported.

A report on the team’s website said that several players celebrated a division-clinching win for the first time, one of them being designated hitter (DH) Trey Mancini.

“I’ve never been a part of a division-winning team before, and it’s amazing and I’m really excited,” Mancini, who came to Houston by way of an early August trade with the Baltimore Orioles, said in the report.

For third-year Astros skipper Dusty Baker, who has the distinction of leading each team he’s ever managed to a division crown, it’s No. 9.

“We got probably a half a dozen or more first-timers, and I just want these guys to enjoy it because they worked [hard] to get to this point,” Baker said, per the team.

The report said that aside from another AL West crown, the Astros locked up a first-round bye to the AL Divisional Series (ALDS).

Houston plays the penultimate game of its series against Tampa Bay on Tuesday.