"Wait ... what? That's right. The Astros, who have won seven consecutive full-season AL West division titles, are rightfully described as the underdog. How are they even in this position? They traded Kyle Tucker, lost Alex Bregman in free agency, have played most of the season without Yordan Alvarez, lost Jeremy Pena for over a month."
"The Mariners, meanwhile, are fighting to win their first division title since 2001. Only the Miami Marlins and Colorado Rockies, who have never finished in first place, and the Pittsburgh Pirates, who last won in 1992, have gone longer without a division title. Yet, when the Mariners acquired Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the trade deadline, many pundits believed they were now the team to beat in the AL."
"What will decide the AL West title over these final 10 days of the season? The Astros and Mariners are tied in the season series at 5-5, so whoever wins the weekend series will own the all-important tiebreaker. The Texas Rangers, after the Astros just swept them, are all but eliminated from the division race, so it's just between Seattle and Houston now."
The Houston Astros, once seven-time AL West champions, sit tied with the Seattle Mariners atop the division despite offseason losses and key injuries. Houston traded Kyle Tucker, lost Alex Bregman in free agency, played much of the season without Yordan Alvarez, and has been without Jeremy Pena for over a month and Josh Hader since early August. The Mariners seek their first division title since 2001 and bolstered their roster by acquiring Eugenio Suarez and Josh Naylor at the trade deadline. The two teams enter the final days tied 5-5 in the season series, so this weekend's series, including Sunday Night Baseball, will likely decide the AL West tiebreaker.
Read at ESPN.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]