Astros clinch AL West at 81-81, first non-winning champ ever
The Houston Astros won the AL West with an 81-81 record. They clinched Sunday with a 9-0 win over the Athletics and a Rangers loss to the Twins.
It is a first in baseball history. No team had ever won a division in a full 162-game season without a winning record, per theScore. The 81-81 Astros got in thanks to a head-to-head tiebreaker over Texas.
Houston started May in last place at 12-21. The team parted with GM Dana Brown in late August. It is the club’s eighth AL West title since 2017, and its fewest wins in a full season since 2014.
Star Yordan Alvarez had a big year. He hit 42 home runs with 106 RBIs and won his first batting title. Manager Joe Espada celebrated the clinch with a WWE championship belt.
The 84-78 White Sox are the lower seed despite a better record. Houston hosts them in a best-of-three wild-card series starting Sept. 29 at Daikin Park. The team with the worse record has home-field edge.
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