Astros clinch 4th AL West title in 5 years, will meet White Sox in ALDS

The Houston Astros are back on top of the American League West.

Houston clinched its fourth division title in the last five years, and the 10th in franchise history, with a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday.

Shortstop Carlos Correa provided the winning swing with a three-run homer in the fourth inning. That was all the offense Lance McCullers Jr. would need, as he allowed just three hits and two runs over his six innings of work. Ryan Pressly closed it out with a clean ninth inning to start the celebrations at Minute Maid Park.

The Astros are now locked into a division series matchup with the AL Central champion Chicago White Sox, starting next Thursday. Houston's magic number to clinch both home-field advantage in the ALDS and the AL's No. 2 seed is down to one, and the club owns the tiebreaker between the two teams, according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com. The best-of-five set - a rematch of the 2005 World Series - will start next Thursday.

This division win continues what's become the golden era of Astros baseball. Since emerging from a long rebuild in 2015, the franchise has made six playoff appearances while winning two AL pennants and the 2017 World Series title. Houston has reached the ALCS in each of the last four seasons.

For Astros manager Dusty Baker, this marks his 11th postseason appearance in 24 seasons as a skipper. The 72-year-old is now the only manager to have guided five different teams to a division title.

"Every time you win, it ranks higher than the last time. And you never get tired of winning," Baker said, according to The Associated Press.