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Astros Know They Have To Play Better With Season On the Line

Originally posted on Houston Astros on SI
By Sean O'Leary | Last updated Sep 24, 2025 8:24 PM ET

With their fourth straight loss on Tuesday, the Houston Astros are now no longer sitting in a playoff position heading into Wednesday's game.

Following a Cleveland Guardians win that was coupled with the Astros' loss, they are now a game behind the Detroit Tigers for the third Wild Card spot. It's the first time since May 25 that they're not in the playoff picture.

Why that's the case has been pretty simple: the Seattle Mariners have been playing their best baseball that included a sweep over Houston and the Guardians have gotten hot at the exact time the Astros have gone cold.

They have five games left in the season heading into Wednesday's action; two against the Athletics and three against the Los Angeles Angels. What Houston has going for them is the Tigers are collapsing, but they still need to win games if they're going to play October baseball.

After Tuesday's 5-1 loss, the team spoke with MLB.com's Brian McTaggart about knowing what they need to do if they are going to find some success to close out the year.

The Astros Are Running Out of Time

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After being swept by the Mariners over the past weekend, the Astros now sit four games back in the West and the division seems out of reach. This is a team that has dealt with possibly the most injuries in baseball, with key players like Yordan Alvarez and Jeremy Peña both missing time.

If healthy, would this division race be slightly closer? It's possible. But the reality is that it's a long season and every team deals with injuries and is hurt at this stage of the season. That's what makes the game so hard.

"This is the sprint to the end, man. This is what it takes. Every team is fatigued, no one is 100 percent. We have to go deep inside us and see how bad we want it. That's what it comes down to," manager Joe Espada said after Tuesday's loss.

They're currently without their star shortstop, as Peña has missed the last two games with soreness in his oblique. That is a player they're going to need if they want to beat out the Tigers or Guardians for the final playoff spot. Aside from the injuries, this is a team that just isn't playing up to par, and they know it.

Astros Know They Need To Play Better

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"Sometimes you go on a cold streak, and it sucks for us (that) it's happening right now toward the end of the year when we need it most. It's baseball, but we've got to wake up," Mauricio Dubon stated.

They are 5-5 in their last 10, but September overall has been their worst month by far. They are 9-11, and their .450 winning percentage this month is their worst this season. It unfortunately comes at the same time that Seattle has had a 15-5 month.

The offense just has't been able to get going. Their batting average this month is 11th-worst in baseball at .239, while they have a bottom 10 wRC+ at 90. They're also bottom half in baseball in runs scored (88) and strikeout percentage (23.1) in September.

"There's no question there's a lot on the line, but the conversations we have often amongst ourselves is, 'Does trying harder help?' ... We've just got to trust that we're ourselves out there and everything will be alright," said first baseman Christian Walker.

They'll have to fight another day without Jeremy Peña, who is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics. It's going to be a tough final week for Houston, but much of this team has been here before.