'We have to go all out': Astros lose 5th straight as playoff hopes dwindle

WEST SACRAMENTO -- Several hundred miles to the north, the Mariners were finishing off a dominating win over the Rockies to clinch the American League West championship on Wednesday night, ending the Astros’ nearly decade-long reign as the class of the division. While the Mariners celebrated their first division title since 2001, the Astros’ limp to the finish line continued.

Another lackluster performance by an offense that didn’t manage to get a runner to third base until the ninth inning and a couple of mistake pitches by ace Hunter Brown, who had no room for error, allowed the A’s to send the fading Astros to their fifth loss in a row, 6-0, on Sutter Heath Park.

Houston is one game behind the Tigers for the third Wild Card in the American League, but Detroit owns the tiebreaker. That leaves the Astros with very little wiggle room over the season’s final four games. Houston may have to win out -- they play the series finale against the A’s on Thursday before finishing up with a series in Anaheim against the Angels -- to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

“That’s what we’ve got to do in the situation we’re in, not having the tiebreakers,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “With four games left, we have to go all out.”

The Astros will send lefty Framber Valdez to the mound in Thursday’s series finale in what could be his final start in a Houston uniform. The Astros are 1-9 in Valdez’s last 10 starts (he’s 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA in those starts), so he’s anything but a sure thing.

“We gotta win tomorrow,” manager Joe Espada said.

A’s starter Luis Severino, who entered the game with a 6.51 ERA at home this season, carved up the Astros for 6 1/3 scoreless innings. The Astros have been without slugger Yordan Alvarez since he sprained his ankle Sept. 15 and All-Star shortstop Jeremy Peña sat out his third game in a row with oblique soreness, and both have been missed.

The Astros have been ravaged by injuries all season, and losing two of their best hitters to injuries for the second time this year at a critical portion of their schedule is apropos for the way the season has played out. It’s also not an excuse, Correa said, for an offense that’s scored only eight runs during the five-game losing streak and hasn’t led at any point in those games.

“We all know about the injuries and that’s been a conversation that’s been going on all year,” Correa said. “We still have the personnel here to be able to back up those guys and to be able to play good baseball still. That’s the depth we have on this team. Yes, we have those guys hurt, yes, we have some guys with injuries who are still playing right now, but that's no excuse for the way we’ve been performing lately.”

A week ago, the Astros were tied for first place with the Mariners and were dominated by Seattle in a three-game sweep in Houston that pretty much decided the division. The Astros had won every AL West title that was competed in a full season since 2017 -- the first of eight consecutive playoff seasons. That streak is in jeopardy.

“We ain’t going to quit,” Espada said. “We’re still in this race. I’m not concerned about that. I just want us to just put some runs on the board, pass the baton mentality offensively. When it comes to our mood and our fight, it’s going to the end, man.”

Brown had allowed two or fewer runs in 10 consecutive starts before giving up four earned runs and six hits in five innings in his final regular-season start. Still, Brown’s 2025 season was terrific. He posted a 2.43 ERA in 185 1/3 innings with 206 strikeouts and was too often the victim of poor run support.

“Every time he goes out there he always gives us an opportunity to win,” Espada said.

Brown would be the Astros’ Game 1 starter if they can reach the Wild Card round next week, which he said makes it hard for him to reflect on his body of work.

“I don’t think mathematically we’re out of it yet,” he said. “We’ve got to win some games here in the last four games.”

Things look bleak, but the Astros cling to hope.

“It’s not been our best baseball, that’s for sure,” Correa said. “I’m sure our fans are frustrated. We’re very frustrated with the way that we’ve been playing. It’s not over yet, so we’ve got to keep fighting. We’ve got to keep fighting all the way to the end and we’re going to do just that.”