Astros are AL West division champs for third straight season

Astros daily report presented by APG&E: 3 hits from the 13-5 win

Astros Daily Report
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images

The Houston Astros are the 2019 winners of the American League West. Here is a quick recap of Sunday's game that clinched it:

With their magic number staying put at 1 after a loss on Saturday, Houston tried once again to lock up the division with a win on Sunday with Justin Verlander on the mound in the series finale against the Angels.

Final Score: Astros 13, Angels 5.

Record: 102-54, first in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: Justin Verlander (20-6, 2.53 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Jose Rodriguez (0-1, 3.24 ERA).

1) George "triple-dinger" Springer

Houston's offense did their part early in Sunday's game to make sure they would be able to wrap up the AL West on the field. George Springer set the tone in the bottom of the first, getting a leadoff home run to give Houston a 1-0 lead.

After the Angels got the run back to tie the game in the top of the second, Springer returned to the plate for his second at-bat and hit another home run, this time a two-run shot to put the Astros back in front 3-1. Los Angeles tried to shift the momentum by getting a run back in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to one, but Springer would make it three-for-three with another solo home run in the bottom of the fourth, making it 4-2.

The rest of the offense would get in on the scoring in the bottom of the fifth, putting together a six-run inning on a two-run homer by Alex Bregman, a two-RBI single by Robinson Chirinos, an RBI-single by Jose Altuve, and one more scoring on a passed ball.

2) Verlander gets win number 20

Justin Verlander dealt with some high-leverage situations early in this start before his offense gave him plenty of slack. After a scoreless first, he would allow back-to-back two-out triples in the top of the second which tied the game 1-1. He worked around a leadoff single for a scoreless third but would allow the Angels to pull within one after putting runners on the corners with no out to set up an RBI-groundout in the top of the fourth.

He rebounded from that by erasing a single and walk in the fifth inning to keep the game at 4-2 before his offense put up the big inning of offense to put the game out of reach and allow him to enjoy the rest of the game from the dugout. The five-inning, two-run start was good enough to earn him his 20th win of the 2019 season. His final line: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 0 HR.

3) Division champs again

With Verlander given the rest of the game off with the big lead putting him in line for the win, the Astros turned the ball to Brad Peacock who made his first appearance since the end of August. He worked around a one-out walk in the top of the sixth to throw a scoreless inning. In the bottom half, Aledmys Diaz tacked on three more runs with a three-run homer to make it 13-2.

Framber Valdez was next out of Houston's bullpen but would not record an out in the seventh after loading the bases, prompting the move to bring in Josh James. James would watch a few runs come across on an error, a single, and a bases-loaded walk, but would get through the inning. Chris Devenski turned things around with a 1-2-3 eighth.

Roberto Osuna came in to record the final three outs, wrapping up the win to not only secure the series victory but clinched the American League West for the third straight season.

Up Next: With the division won, the Astros will need a successful final week of regular-season play to maintain their grasp of the best record in baseball. They will have a day off on Monday before picking up a series in Seattle on Tuesday at 9:10 PM. In the opener of the two-game set, the expected pitchers are Gerrit Cole (18-5, 2.61 ERA) for Houston and Justin Dunn (0-0, 6.75 ERA) for Seattle as an opener.

The Astros daily report is presented by APG&E.

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How Astros suddenly poised to make noise as bats, arms surge

Will Isaac Paredes stay hot against the Cardinals? Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Astros and St. Louis Cardinals meet Monday night at Busch Stadium, both aiming to get above .500 in the early weeks of the season.

Houston (7-8) sends left-hander Framber Valdez (1-1, 2.50 ERA) to the mound in search of a strong start to begin a three-game road series. The Astros, 3-3 away from home this season, have leaned on their pitching—ranking eighth in the American League with a 3.70 team ERA.

St. Louis (7-8) counters with right-hander Sonny Gray (2-0, 4.50 ERA), who has a WHIP of 0.88 despite some early bumps in run prevention. The Cardinals have been solid at home (6-3) and are among the NL’s best-hitting teams, posting a collective .280 average.

Jose Altuve (.302, 3 HR) and Isaac Paredes (13-for-42, 3 HR in last 10) lead the way for Houston’s offense, while Brendan Donovan (.350, 10 RBI) and Pedro Pages (10-for-34, 7 RBI in last 10) have been producing for the Cardinals.

Both teams enter the matchup with identical 7-8 records but differing trends: Houston has outscored opponents by eight runs over their last 10 games (5-5), while the Cardinals have gone 4-6 during that stretch, giving up 5.19 runs per game.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. ET.

Here's a sneak peek at tonight's lineup:

Image via: MLB.com/Screenshot.

Mauricio Dubon gets the nod at second base again, and Chas McCormick will make the start over Jake Meyers in center field. Jose Altuve will get some time off his feet hitting in the DH spot, with Yordan Alvarez playing in left field.


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