Astros erase 10-game deficit to take sole possession of AL West

The Houston Astros have climbed out of an enormous hole in just 25 games.

Houston beat the Seattle Mariners 4-2 on Saturday to take sole possession of first place in the AL West. The two teams entered the game in a tie for the top spot.

"It's awesome to hear but I think it's the same thing as month one or month two being down 10, 12 games. I think we've adopted the same mindset of, we've just got to keep winning the game at hand and playing together, and we're a great team when we do that," Astros outfielder Jake Meyers said.

The Mariners were 44-31 on June 18 and held a 10-game lead over the Astros. Seattle's posted an 8-17 record since, while Houston's gone 19-6.

The Astros have won three consecutive AL West titles and six of the last seven. The Mariners, who now sit 2.5 games back of the final wild-card spot, haven't won the division since 2001.

Seattle's odds to win the division sat at 86.3% on June 18, according to FanGraphs. They dropped to 41.7% entering play Saturday.

"This club is going through a lot of things. It happens through the course of a season," Mariners manager Scott Servais said. "We've got guys who are struggling right now to get some traction and get it going, and they know it. They feel it. And the team in the other dugout across the way is playing very good baseball right now."