Astros Tie Record, Soar to Win in Playoffs With Marathon, 18-Inning ALDS Game

It felt like it was a Game 4, and not just in a Major League Baseball divisional series (the American League West). It was for all the marbles in the third game of the best-of-three series, on Saturday night inside Seattle’s T-Mobile Park, in the contest between the first- and second-place teams, the Houston Astros and the Seattle Mariners.

The Houston Chronicle sports writer Josh Criswell writes about the Astros’ sweep:

The Houston Astros’ 18-inning, 1-0 win over the Seattle Mariners in Game 3 of the ALDS on Saturday tied an MLB record for the longest playoff game in history, and it would have gone longer if not for a solo shot by rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña that proved to be the game-winner.

Three postseason games previously went 18 innings, one of which—a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the 2005 NLDS—involved the Astros. The other two were Game 3 of the 2018 World Series (Los Angeles Dodgers 3, Boston Red Sox 2), and Game 2 of the 2014 NLDS (San Francisco Giants 2, Washington Nationals 1).

Game 3 marked the longest game in terms of time in Astros history, as well.

But there was also one more record shattered:

Houston and Seattle also set an MLB record when the first out was recorded in the bottom of the 15th, marking the longest a playoff game had gone without a run being scored.

CBS News reports that this is the Astros’ sixth straight divisional pennant–another (near) record:

It is their sixth consecutive trip to the Championship Series, the second longest such streak in baseball history behind the 1991-88 Braves (eight years, not including the 1994 strike season).

Now, we all wait to see who the Astros will face. Game 1 of the American League Championship Series starts as soon the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees finish up the AL East series (sometime next weekend).