John Minchillo/AP
An interesting pattern is developing, though I’m not sure we can attribute it to anything more than coincidence. At the end of the last three full-length seasons, the Astros have gone to the World Series to face an NL East team that wasn’t expected to make it that far.
There’s an easy explanation for the first part: Houston is just better than the other American League clubs, by what feels like a wide margin. Just ask the Yankees, who have lost to the Astros in three of the last six AL Championship Series, including the one that ended last night in a sweep.
