The Houston Astros will take a swipe at reaching the postseason for the ninth time in 10 seasons when they face the Athletics on Sunday afternoon at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Astros (80-81) are tied with the Texas Rangers for the American League West lead entering Game No. 162. Houston holds the tiebreaker edge after winning the season series 9-4.
Both Houston and Texas won Saturday to keep the suspense rolling, continuing a trend since the Astros arrived in California. Both teams won Thursday and both lost Friday. The Rangers will complete a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins in Minneapolis on Sunday afternoon.
Whichever AL West leader wins on Sunday will become the first team to finish .500 or lower and win a division title with the exception of shortened seasons.
“We didn’t want to be in this situation, but that’s what it came down to,” Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez told reporters through an interpreter. “And (Sunday) is do or die.”
The Astros hit five homers in Saturday’s 13-2 romp over the A’s to take over the major league lead with 225.
Jeremy Pena had two homers and four RBIs, Alvarez lined a three-run shot, and Isaac Paredes and Lucas Spence hit solo shots. Spence has all four of his career homers during the first three contests of the four-game series against the A’s.
Alvarez, who has 42 homers, had two hits Saturday to raise his majors-best batting average to .316. He is trying to win his first batting title.
The Athletics (64-97) will finish fourth in the AL West but avoided their third 100-loss campaign in five seasons.
The A’s were ravaged with injuries and finished the season without stalwarts such as first baseman Nick Kurtz, shortstop Jacob Wilson, designated hitter Brent Rooker and left fielder Tyler Soderstrom. In addition, catcher Shea Langeliers returned late in the season after missing seven weeks due to a knee injury.
One player on the verge of joining the core players is Zack Gelof, who has 22 homers and 76 runs heading into the finale.
“If you collectively look at his stat line from a run-creation standpoint, I think he’s driven in 55 and scored 70-plus, so that’s pretty impressive in 110 games,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said. “This was a year for Zack to prove himself, and he’s done that.”
Houston will start right-hander Peter Lambert (8-10, 3.87 ERA) on Sunday, just three days after the Athletics roughed him up for four runs and six hits in 2 2/3 innings. He gave up a three-run homer to Jeff McNeil and a solo shot to Gelof.
That was the night Spence hit the first three homers of his career, and the Astros rallied for a 7-5 victory. Lambert is 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against the Athletics.
Houston manager Joe Espada said every pitcher except right-hander Hayden Wesneski will be available Sunday. Wesneski pitched seven innings to pick up the win on Saturday.
“That was exactly what we needed to reset the bullpen; (now we’re) going into the last game of the season in really good shape,” Espada said.
Right-hander Seth Johnson (1-0, 6.19 ERA) will open the contest for the Athletics. Johnson’s 11 appearances have come in relief since the A’s acquired him from the Philadelphia Phillies at the trade deadline last month.
This will be the second time in 39 career appearances that Johnson starts a big-league game.
That other occasion was a disaster, as Johnson was hammered in his major league debut for the Phillies on Sept. 8, 2024. He gave up nine runs and eight hits over 2 1/3 innings while losing 10-1 to the Miami Marlins.
Johnson, 28, pitched an inning against Houston on Friday and served up a homer to Cam Smith.
–Field Level Media
