Magic Number Counter: Astros get crushed, but, All that matters now is who’s coming to Houston

All eyes are on the Tigers and Royals now

All the eyes of Astros’ fans are on the AL wild card race are who it’s gonna be. With two teams currently tied and another one two games back, it is all going to come down to the wire for who is making the postseason and in what position they will be in.

Let’s check out what happened around the league in Magic Number Counter

Houston Astros (86-73): 1, Seattle Mariners (82-77): 8

The lineup alone tells you all you need to know as to where the Astros are at right now. The only part of the lineup that was normal for the viewer was the pitching and, yet again, Kikuchi pitched great. He went six innings and gave up two runs on four hits. He finishes the regular season with the Astros with a 5-1 record and a 2.70 ERA.

The Astros got the first run on the board on a Victor Caratini RBI-single to score Jon Singleton from second and put the Astros up 1-0. They kept this lead till the fifth inning when the M’s finally got themselves on the board and when they did, it opened the floodgates.

The scoring started for them with an RBI-double from Justin Turner to put them up 2-1. They got three more in the seventh starting with a solo shot from Mitch Garver. The next run came on a fielder’s choice and the final one of the inning was off of one of the four errors in the game by Shay Whitcomb.

They continued to pile them on after that, getting another three in the ninth, before finishing the Astros on with a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth and getting the 8-1 win. This win keeps the M’s two and a half back of the wild card but they will need a lot to happen if they want to make the postseason.

Tampa Bay Rays (78-80): 1, Detroit Tigers (84-74): 8

Fighting for a spot, the Tigers keep on winning and keep putting themselves in a better and better spot. Their win is their fourth in a row and they stay tied with the Royals in the race for the Wild Card.

They got the scoring started right away when the first batter of the game, Parker Meadows, went yard on the second pitch he saw. The Tigers got another run later in the inning off a Wenceel Perez RBI-single, putting them up 2-0 in the top of the first and not giving up the lead the rest of the game.

Both teams scored a run in the third before the Tigers added on another two in the sixth and another two in the eighth. Two of them in the sixth came off the bat of Spencer Torkelson, who smacked his 10th homer of the season to left.

The Tigers’ pitching held the Rays to just seven hits and one run the whole game, walking three and striking out seven.

The Tigers have to keep this hot streak up as the season comes to an end. They will either be going to Balrimore or to Houston to play in a three game series for the Wild Card.

Kansas City Royals (84-74): 3, Washington Nationals (69-89): 0

Just like the Tigers, the Royals pitching staff shut down the Nationals. Six pitchers came out for them and threw nine innings of shutout ball with seven strikeouts and allowing just two hits.

KC got all their runs in the third and the sixth. The first came off the bat of Michael Massy when he roped a single into right for an RBI and the next two came from Robbie Grossman from an RBI-single to score two runs and put them up 3-0.

The rest of the game was quiet for both teams, with only one person reaching second the rest of the game. The win for the Royals keeps them on track for the postseason but they still don’t know where they will be heading for their Wild Card series.