Astros get 107th win and Cole breaks another record

The Astros may have clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason last night. But this team doesn’t take a day off, they continue to go full-bore.

Once a team has achieved everything needed for postseason play, most baseball teams will slack off a little and sit their starters a spell. Not the Houston Astros. They trot out what looks like the starting lineup for the playoffs and Gerrit Cole on the mound. They go all out and finish the regular season with style and the best record in baseball.

A.J. Hinch was hired on as the manager of the Houston Astros five years ago today. He got quite a nice anniversary gift from his team as they beat the Angels 8-5 for their 107th victory, a franchise-best and tops in the MLB for the 2019 season.

A lot of the starters were taken out of the game by the sixth inning. But not before a few of them were able to pad their season numbers and achieve new highs and continue to break records.

Gerrit Cole was one of those players that took full advantage of being a part of this final game of the season. It allowed him to break an MLB record with his ninth straight game of double-digit strikeouts with his 96th pitch of the game. Cole also closed out the season with his 20th win, a career high.

George Springer ended his regular season with a bang going 4-for-4 before sitting down after six innings. He had two singles, a double, and his 39th homer of the year. He scored three runs and knocked in two for 96 total runs and 96 RBIs on the season.

Yuli Gurriel got in his 31st home run of the year, giving him 104 RBIs and 85 runs, all career highs. Aledmys Diaz had a nice game with three hits on the day, including his ninth home run of the season.

Alex Bregman reached base in all three at-bats with a single and two walks. He garnered one run and one RBI raising his season totals to 122 and 112 respectively, hopefully boosting his shot at the MVP award.

This 2019 regular season has been one heck of a ride with young phenoms like Yordan Alvarez coming up, Verlander and Cole battling for the Cy Young pitch for pitch and Bregman having a career-year vying for the MVP. But it’s not over yet folks. The playoffs are just around the corner, records and stats are zeroed out and it all starts anew. Let’s Take it Back Astros!