*Photo from KXAN.com*
Now, all the Houston Astros have to do is get home field advantage. George Springer homered 3 times, Justin Verlander threw a good game, and the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Angels 13-5 to clinch the AL west for the 3rd straight season. Now, they are already looking ahead. Verlander said that ''You can't ever take the first goal for granted, I know everybody says we're going to win the World Series, but you can't do that without this first. So, step one complete. Now we have the divisional round coming up and we'll ... prepare for that and try to win 11 games.''
Springer's first homer came on the first pitch thrown by Angels starter Jose Rodriguez, blasting it into the Crawford boxes to make it 1-0. In the second, after the Angels tied it, Springer hit a two run homer to make it 3-1. In the 4th inning, the Angels scored again, and Springer homered again to make it 4-2. In the 5th, Alex Bregman shot a two run homer to left field, Robinson Chirinos hit a two run single, Aledmys Diaz scored on a passed ball, and Jose Altuve hit an RBI single to make it 10-2. In the 6th, Diaz cranked a 3 run homer to left field to make it 13-2. The Angels scored 3 runs in the 7th to make it 13-5.
Justin Verlander threw 5 innings for the Astros, giving up two runs on 6 hits and two walks. He struck out 5 hitters and improved to 20-6 on the season, becoming the first pitcher to 20 wins this season. Brad Peacock, Framber Valdez, Josh James, Chris Devenski, and Roberto Osuna finished off the game. Manager AJ Hinch told the team in the clubhouse that "We've done a lot of good things around here over the last five years that I've been here. Every accomplishment seems to be building and building to being better. I like hanging flags: flags for divisions matter, flags for the World Series matter, and I want our guys to appreciate that.''
This is the second time that Verlander has started a game in which the Astros have clinched the AL west, the first coming in 2017. He said that ''The last time I clinched the division for the Houston Astros we went on to do some pretty special things that year, glad to be out there. These moments as an organization are so special. I'm just so happy to be a part of it.'' This is the 9th division title in franchise history for the Astros. It's also fitting that the Astros clinched in their final home game of the season.
After an off day on Monday, the Angels start a quick two game series against the Oakland Athletics. Dillon Peters will start the first game. The Astros start a two game series against the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday, where Gerrit Cole will start for the Astros.
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