While the Houston Astros failed to clinch a playoff spot, the weekend still treated them quite well. They took three out of four against the Angels, although the one loss was a pretty brutal one, as it came as a direct result of one of Josh Hader’s worst appearances of the season. Still, winning three out of four, regardless of the opponent, is something that most would take every time.

That result wasn’t quite enough to secure the division title, as the Mariners decided to win some baseball games. However, Seattle’s loss to the Rangers on Sunday means that if Houston wins just a single game in their upcoming series against the Mariners this week, they will win yet another AL West title thanks to their commanding five-game lead.

As to how we got to this point this week and what could be coming down the pipe for the Astros, that is decidedly more complicated.

Astros’ Yordan Álvarez injury update was not the good news fans hoped for

With the playoffs coming up very fast, pretty much the last thing the Astros needed was another injury to a key player. There is no surefire, hot-shot prospect down in the minors they can bring up to save the day, and the list of possible replacements gets even shorter when considering postseason eligibility. Unfortunately, that may be the reality the Astros could be facing, as Yordan Álvarez was forced to leave Sunday’s game early after injuring his knee on a slide at second base.

Unfortunately, the news after the game didn’t get much better. Álvarez’s injury was described as a knee contusion by the team, but Houston’s track record of underselling injuries publicly is well-documented at this point. More importantly, manager Joe Espada said Alvarez is “not great” when asked about him after the game, but declined to give anymore details beyond that. As a result, fans can probably expect Álvarez to be out for at least the first couple of games in this next series, if not significantly longer than that.