ALWAYS BE CLOSING
Houston Astros within striking distance of clinching top seed in AL
Sep 27, 2022, 1:09 pm
Astros magic number down to two. Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.
Bielak with an impressive start, Astros rally late but come up short as Diamondbacks take series
With no game on Monday, the Astros are rested and back in action Tuesday night at Minute Maid against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Luis Garcia (13-8, 3.90 ERA) will make the start for Houston, with Zach Davies (2-4, 4.03 ERA) pitching for the D-Backs. Lance McCullers was originally scheduled to pitch, but was scratched due to an "illness."
McCullers has been scratched with an “illness,” according to the Astros.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) September 27, 2022
Magic number: 2
The Astros currently sit atop the AL sporting a 101-53 record, 6.5 games ahead of the 94-59 New York Yankees. So the Astros could clinch the AL on Tuesday with a win over the Diamondbacks, and a Yankees loss. The Yankees face the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday night. The Yankees are 1.5 run underdogs according to online betting sites.
The Astros can also clinch by winning their next two games, regardless of what happens with the Yankees. Both the Yankees and the Astros are playing well currently, as both clubs have won 7 of their last 10 games.
With the Yankees game starting about an hour before the Astros take on the Diamondbacks, the Astros may know the results of Yankees-Blue Jays while they're trying to finish off the D-Backs. So be sure to watch tonight's Astros game because we could see some fun celebrations if the Astros manage to win and the Yankees fall to Toronto.
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Astros carved up 2 of the NL’s best, but that’s just part of the story
Jun 30, 2025, 4:53 pm
The Houston Astros announced on Monday that additional imaging has revealed that Jeremy Peña is dealing with a small fracture in one of his ribs.
Peña left Friday's game after being hit by a pitch in the ribs. The club originally believed they had avoided any fractures or breaks, but new information has informed them otherwise.
Update on Jeremy Peña: pic.twitter.com/jfCsCUKWFx
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 30, 2025
Peña is heading to the 10-day injured list retroactive to June 28. This news comes at an unfortunate time, with Jeremy posting the best regular season numbers of his career. He's currently slashing .322, .378, .489 with an .867 OPS.
Peña will miss the Rockies and Dodgers series at a minimum.
Story on Peña headed to the IL with quotes from Dana Brown.
“This isn’t one of those things where you have to be sidelined the whole time. Once the inflammation goes down, he might feel good enough to swing a bat.” https://t.co/ih2G09Jpcf
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) June 30, 2025
Let's hope the team doesn't rush him back too soon and create an even bigger problem. These quotes above from Dana Brown have me concerned. Playing through injuries can create bad habits, and Jeremy has clearly found his swing this season.