ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — The Houston Astros’ streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances ended Saturday night in the second inning of their game against the Los Angeles Angels.
The Astros took the field
at Angel Stadium with a glimmer of hope, as the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers were tied going into the ninth inning at Progressive Field.
But with Christian Walker at the plate in the top of the second in Anaheim, Guardians outfielder C.J. Kayfus was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give Cleveland a 3-2 win over the Rangers, clinching the final American League playoff berth for the Guardians and eliminating the Astros.
This will be the first time the Astros miss the postseason since 2016. They made seven straight trips to the AL Championship Series from 2017-23, winning four pennants and a pair of World Series titles (2017 and 2022) during that stretch.
In fact, Sunday’s season finale against the Angels will be only the fourth game since the start of the 2015 season in which the Astros will be out of playoff contention.
Houston began the season without two of its best players from 2024, as third baseman Alex Bregman signed a free-agent deal with the Boston Red Sox and outfielder Kyle Tucker was traded to the Chicago Cubs.
The Astros lost their top slugger, Yordan Alvarez, to injuries for much of the season and several other key players — closer Josh Hader, shortstop Jeremy Peña and third baseman Isaac Paredes among them — to injuries down the stretch.
Houston was still in the hunt for a fifth straight AL West title, tied with Seattle entering a big three-game series against the Mariners on Sept. 19. But the Astros were swept at home by Seattle and lost two more games to the Athletics — they did not hold a lead in any of the five consecutive losses — to fall five games back in the division race.
They had a chance to pull into a three-way tie with the Guardians and Detroit Tigers on Friday night, but failed to hold an early 3-0 lead and lost 4-3 to the Angels to remain a game behind the two AL Central teams.
Cleveland and Detroit both hold tiebreakers over Houston, so the Astros needed to win their final two games and have either the Guardians or Tigers lose their last two to extend their playoff streak. But then Cleveland and Detroit both won on Saturday to punch their tickets to the postseason.
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