Jose Altuve got straight to the point when asked what Carlos Correa means to the Houston Astros after his mighty swing launched them into the playoffs.
“We are where we are because of him,” the second baseman said.
Correa on Thursday hit a career-high 25th homer of the season with a three-run shot as the Astros clinched the American League West title with a 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.
Photo: AFP
It is their fourth division title in five seasons and 10th overall.
“That sounds pretty special,” Correa said.
Houston are in the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season, extending a franchise record.
“They’re used to winning and we hate losing, and now the fun begins,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said.
The Astros are to open the Amercian League Division Series on Thursday next week against the Chicago White Sox — home field for that best-of-five matchup is still to be determined.
Houston went 5-2 against the White Sox this year.
Houston were a wild-card team last year in Baker’s first season with the club. So where did this division-clinching victory rate on his list?
“Every time you win, it ranks higher than the last time and you never get tired of winning,” he said.
Correa’s huge hit in the fourth inning allowed the Astros to put a recent stretch where they dropped five of six games behind them and let the celebrations begin at Minute Maid Park.
“We needed that,” Correa said. “It’s been a rough stretch for the past week for us to score and we have not been swinging it well, but hopefully we can carry this game into the next couple of days, get hot and and ride it into the post-season.”
Astros mascot Orbit dashed onto the field waving a huge orange flag that touted their division title as the players cheered and embraced after the final out.
“I’m proud of my team,” Altuve said. “They went out there every single day this season to make this happen.”
Tampa Bay, who have already clinched the top seed in the American League playoffs, put runners on first and second with no outs in the ninth, but did not score.
Rays rookie Wander Franco went none for four to snap a 43-game on-base streak, which tied Frank Robinson in 1956 for the longest such string in MLB history among players 20 or younger.
“Remarkable ... congratulations to Wander,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “I guess he’s going to have plenty of streaks in his career, but this one was spectacular.”
Cash was asked about the possibility of meeting the Astros in the American League Championship Series.
“We’ll probably both be happy if we see each other [again],” he said.
Yuli Gurriel singled to start Houston’s fourth inning and Kyle Tucker walked.
Correa followed up with his towering shot that smashed off the wall in left field to put the Astros up 3-0 against Ryan Yarbrough (9-7).
The charismatic shortstop put a hand to his ear to encourage the crowd as the rounded third base on the home run trot.
Lance McCullers (13-5) did not allow a hit until Choi Ji-man singled to start the sixth inning.
There were two outs in the inning when Brandon Lowe homered on a ball to right field that sailed just inside the foul pole to cut the lead to 3-2.
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