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Ivory CoastAstros Clinch AL West Title Despite Finishing Season at 81-81
The Houston Astros secured the AL West division title with an 81-81 record after a dominant 9-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Sunday.
A Historic Division Win
The Houston Astros are back in the postseason. Houston secured its fifth AL West division title in the last six years on Sunday. They did it in unusual fashion, finishing the regular season with an even 81-81 record.
This represents the lowest winning percentage for any team to win a division in a standard, non-shortened Major League Baseball season. The previous mark was held by the 2005 San Diego Padres.
The Astros sealed their division crown with a dominant 9-0 win over the Athletics. During the game, Texas lost to Minnesota, which officially handed the AL West to Houston. The Astros ended up finishing just one game ahead of the 80-82 Texas Rangers, though Houston owned the tiebreaker anyway.
Key Moments From The Finale
Houston got on the scoreboard early in the third inning against Oakland pitcher Brady Basso, who fell to 1-4. Jose Altuve started the scoring with an RBI groundout. Yainer Diaz followed with a run-scoring double, and Lucas Spence hit a two-run triple to give the Astros a 4-0 lead. Basso allowed four runs on three hits in his single inning of work.
The Astros added to their lead in the sixth inning. Christian Walker hit a solo home run, and Yordan Alvarez drove in another run with an RBI single to push the score to 6-0. Alvarez finished his game 1 for 4, securing the major league batting title with a .316 average.
On the mound, Ethan Pecko earned the win to improve to 3-0. He pitched three innings and allowed only one hit.
Looking Ahead To October
This division title marks the ninth postseason appearance for the Astros in the last ten years. The team only missed out on the playoffs in 2025 during this highly successful decade.
Houston will now host the Chicago White Sox in a best-of-three Wild Card Series. The postseason action is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Athletics finished their second season playing at a Triple-A ballpark in West Sacramento. The team finished with a 64-98 record, a drop from their 76-86 finish last year. They drew 10,022 fans for their final home game of the year, bringing their total home attendance to 799,240. They were the only franchise in the league that did not reach 1 million fans at home this year. The Athletics plan to move to Las Vegas in 2028.
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