Mariners Clinch West; Astros Scramble for Wild Card

The Seattle Mariners have clinched the AL West, while the Houston Astros — mired in a five-game losing streak and hampered by injuries to Yordan Álvarez and Jeremy Peña — sit one game behind the Detroit Tigers for the final American League wild-card with four games remaining. Hunter Brown has emerged as an ace (2.43 ERA, 206 strikeouts in 185 1/3 innings), but his heavy workload coincided with an Astros second-half collapse and an overstretched, injury-ravaged rotation. With tiebreakers not in Houston’s favor, the Astros likely must win out to extend their postseason streak that began in 2016. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers clinched a third straight NL division title and hold a 2.5-game lead for MLB’s best record with three games to go, positioning them as a dangerous October contender if their core bats and pitching perform.