The Houston Astros were tied for first and now have to fight for a spot in the playoffs

After a recent sweep against in-state rival the Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros faced the Seattle Mariners over the past weekend at Daikin Park in a three-game series that ended disastrously for Space City.

Going into the series, both the Astros and Mariners were tied for first place in the division.

With their offense hitting the ball, pitchers throwing heat and defense holding strong, the Mariners outplayed the Astros in all three games. While the Astros made some attempts at a comeback in each of the three games, they kept falling short.

Now, the Seattle-based team is on the verge of winning the American League West Division, and the Astros will have to fight for a wild-card spot to make the playoffs.

The next team Houston will face is the Athletics (formerly the Oakland Athletics) at Sutter Health Park in Sacramento, California, for another three-game series before facing the Los Angeles Angels at the end of the season.

These next few games will be crucial. After the Mariners series, the Astros will have to play at 100% to secure a postseason spot.

The anxiety surrounding the team’s performance in future games this season also increased when shortstop Jeremy Peña was announced as having oblique soreness about 90 minutes before first pitch and was scratched from the lineup for Sunday’s game.

According to Dana Brown, the team’s general manager, he believes the issue should only be a “two-day thing” and expects Peña to be back for the next series.

The playoffs are around the corner and will begin in October. While some teams are comfortably in already, others, like the Astros, will have to play their hearts out for a spot.

Baseball is an unpredictable sport, leaving the door open for a lot to happen in a short period of time. Just a few days ago, Houston was riding high on sweeping an in-state rival. Now, it’s on the back foot.

We can analyze players and their stats all we want, but at the end of the day, we’ll just have to see what happens on the field.