Baker on sixth postseason appearance for Astros: 'We’re looking forward to the next couple of weeks'

Wednesday at Minute Maid Park was Fan Appreciation Day, and the Houston Astros gave the matinee crowd its money’s worth by closing out the 2022 regular season with a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The victory gave the Astros a 106-56 overall record and serves as the segue to the team’s sixth consecutive postseason appearance in the last half-decade. 

With 106 wins, the 2022 squad own the franchise’s second highest total of victories in a season, a game short of their 2019 counterparts. 

“Hey man, we’re going to the postseason,” third-year Astros manager Dusty Baker said in a report on the Astros’ website. “The official season is over. It’s a long road and a lot of work, but a lot of satisfaction at the end there. We had some guys that had some outstanding years, and we’re looking forward to the next couple of weeks.”

Game 162 was a glorified exhibition at best for the Astros, who have the American League’s (AL) best record, its top seed and home field advantage throughout the month.

But those feats didn’t stop the team from delivering on the goods fans were accustomed to since the end of the Major League Baseball (MLB) lockout in the spring.

According to the team, the season finale saw more milestones achieved.

A member of the Astros since early August when a trade brought him to Houston from Boston, catcher Christian Vasquez knocked his first home run (HR) for the club in the seventh inning to put the Phillies in a 3-0 deficit.

CBS Sports reported that Vasquez’s blast was his first since July 22.

The day; however, mostly belonged to the Astros’ pitching staff, the team’s postgame recap said.

Starting pitcher Framber Valdez, who is MLB’s recordholder for quality starts, became the AL’s season leader in innings pitched at 201 1/3 after logging five shutout innings while reliever Ryne Stanek worked his way toward a team single-season record for the lowest earned run average (ERA) by a relief pitcher.

By weaving a 1.15 ERA, Stanek bested the 1.50 ERA set by Will Harris in 2019, per the report.

The Astros possess a bye to the AL Division Series, which begin on Tuesday.

With nearly a week off, there’s no doubt that the team will be tuned in to the best-of-three Wild Card Series between the Seattle Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays to see who they’ll face once their respite is over.