Step one accomplished
Third straight AL West championship a result of ‘ready to play every day’ mentality
Winning the American League West is not the pinnacle, only a prerequisite. Greater goals remain for the Astros, a franchise functioning during the greatest era of its existence. From the 14th day of February, when they again assembled in West Palm Beach, Fla., as the division’s best team, Sunday seemed a foregone conclusion.
The Astros tried Friday and Saturday to actualize it. Friday featured no help from the Oakland Athletics. Saturday’s loss to the Los Angeles Angels stalled the inevitable. Champagne was rolled away, and the clubhouse remained dry for one more night.
“We just keep on keeping a winning culture, a winning mindset. We show up ready to play every day,” said manager A.J. Hinch. “It’s the thing I’m most proud of. We just stay current in the moment.”
No better scenario than Sunday’s encapsulated that essence. Losses rarely linger, and the promise of the next day is perpetually positive. Two of every five days will feature a Cy Young Award frontrunner. On this day, the Astros turned to Justin Verlander, a man on the precipice of another awe-inspiring accomplishment in a career full of them.
Behind the ace stood nine men who comprise baseball’s most unrelenting lineup. Seven members of the batting order have hit 20 home runs. Three have 30. Two are tantalizingly close to 40.
“I think we have a better club than last year,” general manager Jeff Luhnow said.
Sunday, they sought their first coronation. Houston played before the 15th sellout crowd of a 60win home season. The final salvo, a 13-5 victory against the Angels, secured a third consecutive American League West title — the ninth division championship in franchise history. Not since 199799 had Houston, then a member of the National League Central, won three straight division crowns.
“There are a lot of teams that expect to go to the postseason every year, but not all of them make it,” Luhnow said. “This is probably my favorite day of the year because it means we’ve accomplished the first major step.”
When third baseman Abraham Toro took the final out, a celebration seemed delayed, devoid of the excitement most unfamiliar teams may exude. Players jogged to the mound without much exuberance and hugged, and soon a mini-mosh pit formed. Orange Tshirts were distributed to commemorate the clinch. Soon most were soaked.
“This is just the first step of hopefully what are a few of these celebrations if we keep playing like this,” said Hinch, a manager drenched in domestic beer and yelling over another repeated rendition of “Old Town Road” on the clubhouse speakers.
“I keep telling these guys that you have to appreciate the team you have and the era you’re in and the group you have. To do it one after another after another after another is great for the group that’s been here.”
Derailed only by a deluge of injuries to George Springer and their middle infielders during the first half, the Astros executed an evisceration of a division they were unanimous preseason favorites to win. Adding a rookie phenom in June and another ace in July only accentuated what few didn’t already assume.
They played all season as the favorites, one of three superteams in a sport where fewer and fewer franchises feel competitive.
“It’s a unique challenge,” said pitcher Gerrit Cole. “Some people maybe don’t thrive in those situations, but we seem to have players who step up. That added pressure is earned by the great play over the last few years. I don’t think our team would really like to have it any other way.”
Their win over the Angels on Sunday was the 32nd in 38 AL West games inside Minute Maid Park. Houston holds a 51-19 record against its four divisional foes. Six games remain against the Seattle Mariners and the Angels.
The Astros went unbeaten against the Rangers in nine games at Minute Maid. With two games left to play in Seattle, Houston holds a 16-1 season record against the moribund Mariners. Only the Athletics offered any resistance, winning eight of the teams’ 21 meetings.
It was a second-half surge by the A’s that allowed the race to remain intriguing. Houston lost a four-game series at the Coliseum in August that trimmed its lead to six. Zack Greinke salvaged the final game on Aug. 18 to pad it to seven. Houston’s division lead never got narrower than 6 ½ games thereafter.
“I think when you have a target on your back, it makes it harder,” Verlander said. “It makes it a little more special. I think everybody comes to play every single day against you. You’ve got to show your mettle. And I think we did that.”
Entering Sunday’s start, Verlander stood 11 strikeouts shy of 3,000 in his career, a feat only 17 other pitchers have achieved. Five serviceable innings stood between him and 20 regular-season wins.
Verlander relishes pitcher wins, even if the era of baseball he now dominates does not. He attained his 20th victory, though in a taxing display. Verlander threw only five innings and struck out just five Angels, putting his career K count at 2,994.
Of his 92 pressurized pitches, only 13 were swung upon and missed. Just six of his four-seam fastballs elicited a whiff, an alarmingly low number. The Angels are among the toughest lineups to strike out — only the Astros and Pirates posted lower punchout rates this season — but their approach to ambush Verlander early in the count was unexpected.
“I don’t know if they didn’t want him to set the record, get to 3,000 or what,” Hinch quipped.
The days on which Verlander labors feel few and far between. Comfort arrives from the lineup behind him.
George Springer supplied a solo home run on the first pitch thrown to a Houston hitter. Springer struck three home runs in his first three at-bats, appearing already ready to reprise his role as this team’s postseason punisher.
“I wasn’t really expecting this,” said the 2017 World Series MVP, “but I’m glad we won the game.”
The Astros scored six times in the fifth inning, removing whatever intrigue remained during this dismantling. Alex Bregman destroyed his 39th home run of the season, a two-run shot that settled onto the train tracks high atop the left-field wall. Yordan Alvarez annihilated the third of his four hits. The Astros sent 10 men to hit. Their 102nd win was well in hand.
One more victory will tie a franchise record for regular-season wins.
“It’s a bunch of winners in here,” Bregman said. “I think that’s the most important quality in a baseball player: that they’re a winner.”