Houston kept its season alive with a loud, measured answer Saturday night in West Sacramento, hammering the Athletics 13-2 behind five home runs and seven steady innings from Hayden Wesneski. The win left the Astros tied with Texas at 80-81 entering the final day, with the AL West still waiting for its last out.
Key takeaways
- Jeremy Peña homered twice, while Yordan Alvarez supplied a three-run shot as part of Houston’s five-homer night.
- The Astros own the division tiebreaker over the Rangers after winning the season series between the Texas clubs.
- Houston can claim the AL West with a Sunday win over the Athletics or a Rangers loss to Minnesota.
- Wesneski allowed two runs, one earned, over seven innings and finished his comeback season at 6-2 with a 3.25 ERA.
- Houston was able to keep AJ Blubaugh, Bryan Abreu and closer Josh Hader out of Saturday’s game.
Power carries Houston into the final day
Texas had already beaten Minnesota, 6-2, before the Astros took the field at Sutter Health Park, briefly moving the Rangers a half-game ahead in the race. Houston did not let that scoreboard pressure linger.
Isaac Paredes opened the scoring with a first-inning solo homer. Peña added a two-run drive in the third, giving the Astros a 3-0 cushion before the Athletics got on the board.
Then Alvarez broke the game open in the fifth. His three-run homer, his 42nd of the season, pushed the lead to 6-1 and continued a remarkable closing push in a season in which he is chasing the American League batting title and is positioned as the leading AL MVP candidate.
The 42 homers match the fifth-highest single-season total in Astros history. They also leave Alvarez one behind Baltimore’s Pete Alonso for the American League lead.
Houston kept adding on, scoring three runs in the seventh and another three in the eighth. Peña’s pair of homers helped headline a night when the Astros did not merely win; they made sure their bullpen would be as fresh as possible for the game that decides the division.
One game left, with the tiebreaker in Houston’s pocket
The Astros and Rangers enter Sunday’s Game 162 with identical 80-81 records, but Houston holds the edge because of its season-series victory over Texas. That leaves the Astros with the cleaner path: beat the Athletics, or get help from Minnesota.
Texas must defeat the Twins and have Oakland beat Houston to take the division. Should both contenders lose Sunday, the Astros would still finish first.
The AL West winner will host the White Sox in the Wild Card Series beginning Tuesday.
Houston has not named a starter for Sunday’s regular-season finale. Wesneski, however, left the club in fine shape after his seven-inning performance Saturday. The right-hander surrendered six hits and only one earned run while improving his final record to 6-2. His 3.25 ERA marked a strong finish to a season shaped by his return from Tommy John surgery.
More importantly for the clubhouse, the late offensive surge spared the back end of the bullpen. Blubaugh, Abreu and Hader were all rested, leaving Houston with its most trusted relief options available for a final-day game carrying a division flag’s worth of weight.
