For months, the Astros were one of the best stories in baseball this season, but now it's all coming crashing down.
After the Astros fell to the Mariners 6-4 and the Angels toppled the A's 8-1 Tuesday night, Houston is now out of a playoff spot entering Wednesday. Los Angeles owns a half-game lead for the second wild card position and if the season ended today, it would visit the Yankees in the Bronx, while Houston's playoff drought would hit the decade plateau.
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The Astros are 10-16 in September, while the Angels have been an impressive 18-8. Los Angeles (33-16) also has the edge over Houston (20-29) in one-run games, which could be attributed to the Astros' struggling bullpen, which has been a detriment for years now.
On Tuesday, it was Oliver Perez and Pat Neshek giving the game away. After Perez allowed a single in the eighth inning with the game tied at four, Neshek came in and allowed another single and a walk. Neshek then yielded a two-RBI single to Sean O'Malley to give Seattle a 6-4 lead it wouldn't relinquish.
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The duo, along with Will Harris, has struggled at the worst time imaginable in the stretch run of the season.
The Astros (83-75) find themselves in third place behind the Angels (83-74) and Rangers (85-72) in a tight AL West, and the final few games will be very important to decide who advances to the playoffs and who will be on the outside looking in. As for the wild-card, the Twins (81-75) are only 1 ½ games back of the Angels and could be a factor.
There are several different scenarios that could play out for the Astros, but out of all the clubs in the mix, they have the least amount of games remaining with four. Houston led the AL West on Sept. 14, but on Sept. 30 it doesn't have hold of a postseason spot.
The Astros now have a 3.1 percent chance of winning the division and a 40.9 percent shot of clinching a wild card spot, according to FanGraphs. That gives Houston a 44 percent chance at ending its playoff drought.
A season of promise could end in a Texas-sized disappointment.
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