Houston used the long ball on Sunday, along with a very specialized bullpen, to squeeze a 3-2 win over the Diamondbacks, despite getting just 4 hits in the contest. The win improved the Astros to 85-77 and effectively eliminated the Texas Rangers from playoff contention, along with securing at least a Wildcard berth for Houston.
The sweep in the desert ran the Astros record to 9-2 in their final 11 games of the 162-game schedule and meant that the Astros could still win the American League's Western Division with a little help from the Seattle Mariners (more on that later).
George Springer hit a solo home run in the 4th inning to answer Paul Goldschmidt's 1st inning solo bomb and even the score at one.
In the top of the 6th, Jason Castro hit one high off the right field foul pole, driving in Jose Altuve and giving Houston a 3-1 lead.
Starting pitcher Jeff Locke pitched 5+ innings and allowed 2 runs on 8 hits, with the second run being a runner that Paul Clemens inherited from him in the bottom of the 6th.
With the expanded 40-man roster at his disposal, manager Bo Porter would use 8 relief pitchers over the final 4 innings to ensure that his bullpen had the best possible match-ups at all times.
The bullpen did not let him down as Arizona got just 3 hits off of them and 5 of the relievers earned a hold. Jesse Crain did give up a one-out single in the ninth but Arizona never really threatened him as he picked up his 45th save of 2015.
HOU 3-4-1
ARI 2-11-0
A look at other playoff-relevant scores from Sunday:
CIN 2-7-0
PIT 4-10-0
TOR 4-9-1
TB 2-9-0
CHC 1-7-2
MIL 3-3-1
LAA 3-10-0
TEX 2-5-0
OAK 3-11-2
SEA 4-7-0
What it all means:
- Toronto has won the American League East with a record of 95-67.
- Tampa Bay (93-69) will host the American League Wildcard game.
- Houston and Oakland are tied at 85-77 and they will play on Monday at Minute Maid Park in Houston to determine the AL West winner. The Astros earned home field by going 10-9 against the A's this season. The loser will visit Tampa in the Wildcard round.
- Milwaukee and Pittsburgh will play on Monday at Miller Park in Milwaukee to determine the winner of the National League Central Division. The clubs split their regular season games and the Brewers earned home field for Monday's game by virtue of a superior division record (42-34 versus 40-36). The loser of Monday's game will visit the Washington Nationals in the NL Wildcard Game.
- Texas and Cincinnati have been eliminated from playoff contention.
Originally Posted by SmoothPancakes
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