Inside the Astros

Astros Clinch AL West Division Title, First Round Bye in MLB Postseason

The Astros won their sixth American League West division title in seven years, Sunday, when they defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-1 at Chase Field.

Jack Vita

Astros Clinch AL West Division Title, First Round Bye in MLB Postseason
Astros Clinch AL West Division Title, First Round Bye in MLB Postseason /
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Less than 24 hours after they punched their ticket to the postseason, the Houston Astros locked up an American League West division title and a first round bye in the MLB playoffs.

The Astros entered Sunday one game back of the Texas Rangers for first place in the AL West. Dusty Baker's club received help from a division rival, as the Seattle Mariners blanked the Rangers 1-0 in their season finale Sunday. Meanwhile, Houston pummeled Arizona 8-1, completing a sweep of the Diamondbacks and securing a bye in the American League playoffs.

The Astros and Rangers finish the season tied for first place with identical 90-72 records. Since Houston defeated Texas nine of 13 times, the Astros own the head-to-head record over the Rangers, making them division champions for the third-straight year.

The Astros will skip the AL Wild Card Series, and have homefield advantage in the ALDS. They will play the winner of the Minnesota Twins-Toronto Blue Jays series, which will take place at Target Field this week in the AL Wild Card Series.

The Rangers will travel to Tampa Bay for a best-of-three series with the Rays. The winner of that series will have a date with the AL's best, the Baltimore Orioles.

The Astros will now have the week off to rest their pitching staff and prepare for the ALDS. They will not play again until Saturday.

The American League and National League Wild Card Series will begin Tuesday, with all of the round's games airing on ESPN.

The Astros have now won the AL West six times over the last seven seasons. The only year during that stretch that the club did not finish as division champions was 2020, in the COVID-19-shortened season. The Astros have not missed the playoffs since 2016.

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Jack Vita
JACK VITA

Jack Vita is a writer and contributor to Sports Illustrated's Inside the Astros, and host of the Jack Vita Show, a popular sports podcast available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever podcasts are found. Jack is a 2017 graduate of Valparaiso University, in northwest Indiana. Since completing his degree, Jack has created his own independent sports media outlet (JackVita.com) and podcast (the Jack Vita Show). He has featured prominent guests from the worlds of sports and entertainment including Brian Urlacher, Scot Pollard, Bob Nightengale, Dan O'Dowd, and Survivor icons Stephenie LaGrossa Kendrick, Cirie Fields, Danni Boatwright and "the Dragon Slayer", Coach Benjamin Wade. While studying at Valparaiso, Jack was the school newspaper's beat writer for the Valpo Crusaders men's basketball team, which won three straight Horizon League championships from 2015-2017. Traveling to cover the team, Jack had a front row seat to one of the nation's best mid-major teams, headlined by future NBA Draft pick Alec Peters and coached by NCAA Tournament hero Bryce Drew. Jack hosted a weekly sports radio show and provided play-by-play and color commentary services for ESPN 3 and the university's student radio station, WVUR-FM, 95.1 The Source, covering Valparaiso men's soccer, women's basketball, softball and volleyball. Jack also covered these sports, in addition to men's and women's tennis, baseball and women's soccer for the school newspaper, The Torch. While he was in college, Jack interned for and co-hosted Jewell On Sports, a sports radio program on AM 1050 WLIP in Kenosha, Wisconsin. There, he interviewed various pro athletes such as Ahman Green, Javon Walker and Javier Arenas, in addition to talking sports with the late, great Brad Jewell. Jack also interned for 22nd Century Media, a now defunct newspaper corporation that provided news to the North Shore of Chicago. With 22nd Century Media, Jack wrote post-game recaps, feature stories about local athletes, reviews of local restaurants and compiled the newspaper's "Pet of the Week" and "Athlete of the Week" sections, while providing copy-editing services. Before attending Valparaiso, Jack enrolled at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he studied for two years before transferring. He is a high school graduate of New Trier Township High School in Winnetka, Illinois. You can follow Jack on Twitter @JackVitaShow, subscribe to his podcast, the Jack Vita Show, wherever podcasts are found, and reach him via email at jack@jackvita.com.

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