Houston Astros Clinch American League West, First Round Playoff Bye

With their 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night, the Houston Astros clinched their fifth AL West division title in six years. The Astros also clinched a bye from the new Wild Card Series round of the postseason.

With their 4-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field Monday night, the Houston Astros clinched another American League West title, as well as a bye from the brand new Wild Card round of the Major League Baseball Playoffs.

The Houston Astros moved from the National League Central division to the American League West in 2013.

After a pair of losing seasons, the Astros made the American League playoffs for the first time in 2015, as a Wild Card team. Two years later, they would win their first AL West division title.

Fast-forward to 2022, and they have now won five division titles in six years. The only season during that six-year stretch in which the Astros did not win the AL West was the 60-game COVID-shortened season of 2020. The Astros would come within a game of returning to the World Series that year, losing to the Rays in seven games in the American League Championship Series.

The Astros will be returning to the postseason for the sixth-straight season in October. In addition to clinching another AL West title, the Astros clinched a bye from the new Wild Card Series round of the postseason, advancing directly to the American League Division Series.

Up eight games on the New York Yankees with just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Astros will likely soon be clinching the American League's top seed and homefield advantage throughout the American League playoffs.

The Astros weren't the only team to clinch Monday night, as the New York Mets secured their first postseason appearance since 2016.