The Oakland Athletics ended a six-season dry spell after clinching the American League West division title on Monday.
Despite not actually playing on Monday, the A’s were mathematically ensured of the division crown after the second-place Houston Astros lost at home 6-1 to the Seattle Mariners. This loss dropped Houston to the .500 mark and 6.5 games behind Oakland, which made the Athletics the first team to clinch first place in a Majors’ division.
The 2017 World Series champions, the Astros, were a favorite heading into the season after they won the division in each of the past three seasons, but the Athletics surprised many by displacing the Astros from the top of the division.
The Athletics have one of baseball’s best pitching staffs and they’ve posted a 3.64 ERA on the season. They’re baseball’s best bullpen by ERA, and they’ll be a threat to teams moving forward in the playoffs.
The playoffs are set to begin next week and the A’s will be the league’s 2nd or 3rd seed.
