Astros secure wild card, will play Yankees in Bronx
The Houston Astros clinched a berth in the American League wild-card game under anticlimactic circumstances Sunday, securing a spot in the sudden-death playoff thanks to the Texas Rangers' 9-2 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Houston will play the New York Yankees in Tuesday's elimination game in the Bronx after the Astros dropped their season finale to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-3.
"You can say a lot of things about this team, but one thing they're going to say forever: We're a playoff team," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said during postgame celebrations.
All-Star second baseman Jose Altuve collected three hits in the loss to reach 200 hits for the second straight year.
(Courtesy: MLB.com)
"We didn't have the results a couple years ago that we wanted, but we worked hard to be at this point," Altuve boasted. "Now we are the team that everybody wants to be."
Joe Girardi confirmed Sunday that right-hander Masahiro Tanaka will pitch the one-game playoff for New York, while Astros manager A.J. Hinch announced shortly after Houston's loss that Cy Young candidate Dallas Keuchel will start at Yankee Stadium on three days' rest.
The Yankees also stumbled into the postseason, losing Sunday for the sixth time in seven games and getting swept by the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards.
The Astros won the season series 4-3 over the Yankees.