Astros sit atop AL West for first time this season

SEATTLE -- Even with all they’ve accomplished in the last decade, the Astros were able to take a moment Friday night and marvel at their latest achievement.

After all, it was only a month earlier that it seemed as though the Astros were cooked after falling 10 games behind the first-place Mariners on June 18. Some were saying the team’s stranglehold in the American League West division had ended. Others thought the Astros’ place as a perennial AL power was over. The window was finally closing.

The Astros weren’t having any of that, though, and knew there was enough time to get back in the race. And only a month after they were written off, the inevitable Astros have surged back into first place after beating the Mariners, 3-0, at T-Mobile Park, capping a remarkable charge up the standings. Houston (51-46) is percentage points ahead of Seattle (52-47).

“I want to start by saying how proud I am of this group,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We have clawed our way through a very difficult stretch early in the season and find ourselves tied for first place, and I’m just proud of that group. They never stopped fighting, they never stopped believing, and this is far from over. Just to find ourselves in this position, it feels great.”

The Astros have gone 18-6 in their last 24 games and are 26-13 since June 1, which is the best record in the Major Leagues in that span. They’ve fought through significant injuries and underperformances to reach first place for the first time in 2024. Houston has won the division in six of the last seven years, but never has it had to come from so far behind.

“It’s been obviously a team effort,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “It seems we’ve done the small things. We’ve been hitting way better with men in scoring position and pitching good and closing out the games. It seems we’ve been doing everything slowly better. I know there’s still two months left, but we’re happy to be where we’re at right now.”

One of the reasons why the Astros have turned things around is starting pitcher Hunter Brown. After going 0-4 with a 9.78 ERA in his first six starts of the season, Brown is 8-2 with a 2.55 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 14 games (13 starts since). He started the second half Friday with six scoreless innings, allowing four hits and three walks in his 50th career start.

“We’re just being us, being the Houston Astros,” Brown said. “This clubhouse is loaded with talent on the offensive side, defense, pitching and everything about it. Just playing our brand of baseball and feeling good about it.”

The Astros’ offense, which has been without All-Star slugger Kyle Tucker since June 3, did just enough Friday as Houston’s bullpen shut the door behind Brown. Bryan Abreu, Ryan Pressly and Josh Hader each threw perfect innings in a show of strength from a relief corps that struggled in the first month.

“You always want to be playing good baseball and I think right now we’ve been playing really good ball over the last, I don’t know, 25 games, and today the pitching staff stepped up for us big time,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “Hunter threw the ball really well. He was probably a little bit out of sync [after] being off for four days, but he battled and competed and grinded all game long, and then the bullpen came in and looked really sharp there in the seventh, eighth and ninth.”

With the pitching staff throwing its sixth shutout of the season, Houston capitalized in the third inning against Mariners starter Luis Castillo. Trey Cabbage led off the inning with a double and scored on a throwing error. The Mariners pitched around slugger Yordan Alvarez to load the bases for catcher Yainer Diaz, who shot a single to right field to score Altuve and Bregman for a 3-0 lead.

Strong starting pitching, airtight relief pitching, clutch hits -- yep, are the Astros back.

“This is a really good team,” Espada said. “These guys have been in this position before and I keep saying that over and over again. They find ways to stay together. They don’t lose faith. They stay in a position where they can strike back at any time. They do small things so well.”