Well, as predicted, the Stros (89-73) didn’t get to celebrate winning the National League Wild Card Playoff berth until the last out of their weekend series with the Cubs (79-83) was recorded in the scorebook.
The Stros clinched on Sunday by pulling out a heart-stopping 6-4 victory over the Cubs after setting up that victory with a similarly tight 3-1 win over the Cubs on Saturday. Preceding those nerve-wracking victories were two even closer games that the Stros lost to the Cubs, 3-2 on Thursday and then 4-3 on Friday in which Stros closer Brad Lidge uncharacteristically blew a two-run lead in the ninth. Lidge came back to save both wins over the weekend.
So, the Stros make the playoffs for the sixth time in the past nine seasons as they close out the remarkably successful Biggio-Bagwell era. I was one of the few to predict that this light-hitting club could contend for yet another playoff berth, although even I wavered during the early part of the season and as recently as a month ago. But after a horrible 15-30 record in their first 45 games, the Stros were a remarkable 74-43 for the remainder of the season to lock up the playoff berth with only three less wins that last season’s club that came within a game of the World Series.
The Stros have a couple of days of rest before taking on their perennial playoff opponent, the Braves (90-72) in Atlanta on Wednesday. They will follow that game with another on Thursday in Atlanta and then games in Houston on Saturday and, if necessary on Sunday, and then a fifth game, if necessary, in Atlanta next Monday. I will post a thorough analysis of the Stros versus Braves series on Tuesday.