Astros soar high, clinch division title

HOUSTON (AFP) — The Houston Astros clinched their fourth consecutive American League (AL) West divisional title to surge into the postseason with a 4-3 victory over the Seattle Mariners.

Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker and Jason Heyward blasted home runs at Houston’s Minute Maid Park as the Astros claimed the divisional pennant for the seventh time in the past eight seasons.

The win completed a remarkable late season charge by the Astros, who had trailed Seattle by a whopping 10 games in mid-June before turning their season around in emphatic fashion.

“Everybody in here’s a winner and knows what it takes to win,” said Astros star shortstop Bregman.

“That’s the most important thing this group has is we know how to win baseball games and hopefully we can continue to do that.”

But while the Astros were looking ahead to another playoff campaign, American League rivals the New York Yankees were frustrated in their efforts to clinch the AL East title.

The Bronx Bombers needed just one more win to wrap up the title in the East, but were forced to leave the champagne on ice at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday after a 5-3 defeat to the Baltimore Orioles.

The win was enough to seal a playoff spot for the Orioles, however, following the Miami Marlins’ 4-1 defeat of the Minnesota Twins elsewhere on Tuesday.

At the other end of baseball’s spectrum, meanwhile, the Chicago White Sox delayed the inevitable as they headed towards the worst season in modern baseball history, staging an improbable eighth inning rally to defeat the Los Angeles Angels, 3-2.

The White Sox had slumped to a record-equalling 120th defeat on Sunday, tying the 1962 New York Mets for the worst single season record in baseball history.

A record-breaking 121st loss looked inevitable as the Angels took a 2-0 lead in the top of the eighth inning.

However, a Bryan Ramos double drove in a run for Zach DeLoach to cut the deficit to 2-1, and then Luis Robert Jr. and Andrew Benintendi singled in quick succession to give Chicago a winning 3-2 lead.