The Houston Astros became the second team to clinch their ticket to the second round of the MLB Postseason, as they swept Cleveland via an 11-3 win at Progressive Field.
The Brewers kicked off the sweep festivities last night in Denver when they took out the Rockies, and Houston followed suit today. The final scoreline might be slightly misleading, as Cleveland actually led 2-1 after six innings, but Houston exploded for three runs in the seventh and six more in the eighth to put it out of reach.
Houston now gets the winner of the Yankees/Red Sox series, which won’t be ending in a sweep; Houston is probably pulling for a lengthy five-game series featuring plenty of long games. (It’s Yankees/Red Sox, so that last part is a given, even if they don’t go to extras.)
Cleveland, meanwhile, will go at least another year without ending their 70-year World Series drought, which is the longest for any team by a dozen years. So that sucks, especially for their fans, although maybe the removal of Chief Wahoo will swing some karma back their way.
Houston had as quiet a year as a 103-win defending World Series champion in a major market could possibly have, and now they’re just four wins away from a shot at repeating.
