The Houston Astros are in the middle of their most important series all year.
Astros' AL West chances take a hit after Mariners game originally appeared on The Sporting News
The Houston Astros are taking on the Seattle Mariners this weekend in what is the most critical series for both AL West rivals all year.
What's at stake? A slight lead in the division headed into the final week of the MLB regular season. However, Houston has already put itself behind the sticks by dropping the series opener 4-0 on Friday night.
The teams opened up the series with identical records (84-69), but now Seattle is the one who holds a one game lead in the AL West. The series is at Daikin Park in Houston.
Outlook of the AL West race
After this series, the Astros will finish off the season with a six-game road trip against the Athletics and the Los Angeles Angels. So even though this Mariners series is ultra-important, both those AL West clubs will be attempting to play spoiler.
In the first game of the series against the Mariners, Seattle's Bryan Woo had his A+ stuff going, as he stiffled the Astros' lineup.
Hunter Brown got the start in the first game of the series, and Houston will send out Framber Valdez for Saturday's game and Jason Alexander in the series finale.
Houston is aiming to keep its divisional title streak alive. They have won the last five division titles, and they have won the AL West eight times since 2017.
As for Seattle, they finish off the season with the Colorado Rockies and the Los Angeles Dodgers. That Dodgers-Mariners series to end the season has the chance to have major playoff implications.
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Category: Baseball
