HOUSTON (DA) — Ozzie Albies supplied the tying hit and Mike Yastrzemski followed with a three-run homer Sunday as the Atlanta Braves secured the National League East championship by beating the Houston Astros 4-2.
The Curaçao second baseman’s RBI single opened Atlanta’s scoring in a four-run sixth inning. Yastrzemski then homered to right off Bryan King, giving the Braves the offense they needed to complete a series sweep.
Atlanta improved to 92-64 and claimed its seventh division title in nine years. The championship came under first-year manager Walt Weiss, a season after the Braves finished 76-86 and missed the playoffs.
Before Atlanta broke through, Victor Mederos kept Houston’s lead at one run with a critical escape in the fifth. He inherited a bases-loaded situation with one out, struck out Jose Altuve and retired Yainer Diaz on a grounder.
The Astros also left the bases loaded in the first inning, wasting opportunities to build on an afternoon when starter Hunter Brown gave them five scoreless innings. Brown allowed three hits and struck out 10 before Atlanta rallied against the bullpen.
Altuve’s fourth-inning home run accounted for Houston’s only run against Braves starter Martín Pérez, who allowed six hits over 4 1/3 innings. Diaz homered in the eighth, but Dylan Dodd closed out the ninth for his second save.
Mederos earned the win to improve to 5-1. King fell to 3-6.
For Albies, the clincher came at a familiar championship venue. Atlanta won the 2021 World Series in the same Houston ballpark, and Albies, Austin Riley and Dylan Lee are the only players from that championship roster still with the Braves. Albies batted .455, going 5 for 11, in the three Houston games during that series.
The sweep left the Astros with seven losses in their last nine games. They began Sunday one game behind Texas in the American League West, though Houston holds the tiebreaker.
Atlanta returns home Tuesday to open a three-game series against Cincinnati, with JR Ritchie scheduled to start. Houston heads to Seattle for a two-game series beginning Tuesday, with Cristian Javier set to pitch the opener.