The Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 7-1 to win their very first AL West title. The Astros last reached the post-season in 2015 with an AL Wild Card berth. They beat the New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game before falling to the eventual World Series winning Kansas City Royals in the ALDS. The last time the Astros won a division title was as a National League team in 2001 when they won fourth NL Central title in five years.
The Astros never relinquished the lead in the AL West after April 14th. They led the division by as much as 18 games on July 28th. They fell back to earth with an 11-17 mark in August, but retained a double digit lead which never went below 11 games. Until the Cleveland Indians embarked on a 22 game winning streak, the Astros were considered the team to beat in the AL.
They still could be. The team has an outside shot at winning 100 games for the only second time in franchise history. In 1998, they won 102 games during the Killer B's era of future Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio. Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are today's Killer B's with Altuve the odds on favorite to win the AL MVP.
Chances are the Astros will face the winner of the AL East in the ALDS. At the moment, that would be the Boston Red Sox who currently hold a three game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. If the Astros do face the Red Sox they will see a lot of them as they play the final four regular season games against each other from September 28th through October 1st.
Should the Astros reach the World Series they will become the first team in MLB history to have represented both leagues. The Astros won the NL pennant in 2005, but were swept by the Chicago White Sox in that year's Fall Classic. A World Series win would be the first in franchise history which began in 1962 as the Houston Colt 45's. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, a World Series win would be a great morale boost.
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