Passan: Surrounded by October chaos, the Astros find a way
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Jeff Passan, ESPN
MINNEAPOLIS — In this October of chaos, of 100-win teams swept and a winless American League East and lower-seed dominance, there is but one constant. The Houston Astros are doing what the Houston Astros do, which is to say they are owning the most important month on the baseball calendar.
In this time when there is bellyaching about the game’s playoff format, in which the best teams sit for a week while the laggards fight for their season in the wild-card round, there is the outlier. The Astros illustrated that a bye does not necessarily equal bye-bye.
In this moment of profound questions across the sport, about strategy and analytics and the challenges of building a team to succeed in the playoffs like it does over a 162-game season, there is the team that for seven straight years has found itself in the American League Championship Series. The Astros were once upon a time the most analytically inclined organization in baseball. Even as in recent years they’ve receded from that, they still just win.
Baseball is on one. Up is down and right is left and sliders are sweepers and nobody can quite put together what’s going on. The 84-win Arizona Diamondbacks are in the National League Championship Series after dismantling the Los Angeles Dodgers, who finished 16 games ahead of them in the NL West. The 104-win Atlanta Braves are on the precipice of getting beat after their shortstop loud-talked Bryce Harper in the clubhouse, a reporter printed the ill-advised chirping and Harper had the vengeance game to end all vengeance games that staked his Philadelphia Phillies, who finished 14 games behind Atlanta in the NL East, a chance to finish off their series on Thursday.
All of that came a day after the 101-win Baltimore Orioles saw their season end at the hands of the buzz saw that is the Texas Rangers. After gagging away the AL West crown in the final week of the season, Texas proceeded to sweep the Tampa Bay Rays in the wild-card round then bushwhack the Orioles to set up one whale of an ALCS.
Never have the Rangers and Astros played in the postseason, and for all of the upsets thus far — if Philadelphia closes out Atlanta, the lower seed will have prevailed in five of eight series — to be gifted this sort of ALCS speaks to the drama that exists when chalk goes to dust.
It’s the Battle of Texas, the Silver Boot Series gone prime time.
It’s a pair of fearsome offenses that will make 27 outs painful for opposing pitchers.
It might even be Justin Verlander vs. Max Scherzer.
A little more than two months ago, the two wizened aces were New York Mets teammates. The Mets’ deadline reckoning sent Verlander back to Houston and Scherzer off to Texas. And while a shoulder strain has shut down Scherzer for the past month, he could return and bring even more verve to a series teeming with it.
That’s the thing about this October. It doesn’t have the New York Mets. Or the New York Yankees. Or the Boston Red Sox. Or the Chicago Cubs. Or the San Diego Padres. Or the San Francisco Giants. Or the Los Angeles Angels. Even the juggernauts who did make it are falling on their faces. Should Philadelphia beat Atlanta, the win totals of the final four teams will be 90, 90, 90 and 84.
That’s baseball. For all those who care to complain about how winning a division doesn’t mean anything anymore, understand this: Every single team — every single team — would rather have a week off after the season to rest and reset its rotation than play a best-of-three series against another quality team with its season on the line.
Teams aren’t losing because they had a week off.
They’re losing because the MLB postseason is a tournament with three-, five- and seven-game series, in which getting hot at the right time matters far more than what a team has done over a six-month grind.
It’s what makes the Astros’ run all the more impressive. For seven years — one short of Atlanta’s record eight straight championship series appearances — the Astros have managed to win at least one playoff series. And as dissatisfying as that might be for those who harbor resentment against the organization for its cheating in 2017, anyone who refuses to acknowledge the Astros’ exceptional staying power is just willfully ignorant.
Only three players, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Verlander, remain from the 2017 team. The Astros have added the magnificent Yordan Álvarez, who might be the scariest hitter in the world, and Kyle Tucker, a perennial standout. They’ve brought in Michael Brantley, the epitome of a professional, and supplemented him with Jose Abreu, and both, now 36 years old, homered in their series-clinching triumph on Wednesday at Target Field, where the Astros took both games from the Minnesota Twins. Houston has developed Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier and Jeremy Peña and Chas McCormick and Jose Urquidy, who hadn’t pitched in 12 days and locked down the Twins to secure the Game 4 victory.
The conversations in sports always change, and today it’s going to be about Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman going 1-for-21; and the Diamondbacks, with the fewest home runs in the regular season of any remaining playoff team, becoming the first ever to hit four in one postseason inning; and whether Spencer Strider can weather Citizens Bank Park and send the Braves home for a Game 5.
The Astros will hover above it all, readying for Sunday, when they will host Game 1 of the ALCS for the fourth time in five years. It will be the latest step toward the ultimate do-what-they-do goal: becoming baseball’s first back-to-back World Series champions since the Yankees won three in a row from 1998 to 2000.
It might be the most normal thing to happen yet.
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Dave Wilson
AUSTIN, Texas — A week after Arch Manning struggled in a loss at Ohio State, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian saw his quarterback bounce back in a 38-7 win over San Jose State and said this game showcased more of Manning’s style.
Manning matched a career high with four touchdown passes, going 19-of-30 for 295 yards, and added a 20-yard touchdown scramble, tiptoeing down the left sideline at the end of the third quarter.
“I thought today was a by-product of the week of work. He played aggressive throughout the week. He studied the game plan. He knew exactly what we were trying to do, and I thought today he played more of his style,” Sarkisian said. “He extended plays, used his legs, scrambles for a touchdown. That’s the style of player that he is.”
On several plays, Manning rolled out and found receivers. A few of his passes were dropped, with Sarkisian saying Texas “didn’t catch the ball great for him.” But Sarkisian was pleased that Manning made plays when things broke down.
“Him playing his game and not trying to play at somebody else’s style of game, I think it is important for him,” Sarkisian said.
Manning also threw a bad interception while under pressure, heaving the ball into double coverage from the Spartans’ 14-yard line. San Jose State defenders had a shot at picking off a couple of his other throws but failed to haul them in.
“A lot to work on,” Manning said. “I thought it was sloppy for my part. Can’t turn the ball over in the red area. I’ve got to play better. I think all around, it was a little sloppy.”
Manning started slowly, going 3-of-6 for 11 yards on his first two drives. But then, on a third-and-3 with 2:52 left in the first quarter, Manning found Parker Livingstone along the left sideline, and he turned it upfield for an 83-yard touchdown.
The touchdown throw was part of a stretch where Manning went 5-for-5 for 142 yards and four touchdowns, including TDs on three consecutive passing attempts — a 3-yarder to Livingstone, then 36- and 16-yarders to tight end Jack Endries.
“Anytime you can get points on the board after a slow start, it feels good,” Manning said. “Then, [we] finally got some rhythm. Defense started stepping up, too, so we’ve just got to start quicker next week.”
The Longhorns, who committed 12 penalties for 115 yards, have four new offensive line starters, and many new players at wide receiver and tight end. And even Texas stars such as edge rusher Colin Simmons (two penalties for offsides, one for roughing the passer) didn’t perform their best.
“I think as our team in general goes, this is not the best version of Texas football this season that we’re going to see,” Sarkisian said. “My foot’s got to get in their butt here on Monday morning. That’s unacceptable. And there’s a standard in which we want to play the game, and 12 penalties does not meet that standard.”
Manning said all week that he had to play better for Texas to win. He was encouraged by his performance Saturday, finding a way to make plays, but doesn’t believe he’s at his best.
Sarkisian said Manning is gifted with his dual-threat abilities, but his team is learning on the fly how to block for him while he’s scrambling or that he could throw while on the move.
“There’s things that we’re learning as we go as a team, but those are some of the growing pains that we have to work through,” Sarkisian said.
Those growing pains still resulted in an easy win at home Saturday. For Sarkisian, he said he can see the trust growing among his players, including Manning.
“The guys rally around him, you can feel it today on the sidelines,” Sarkisian said. “They really like playing with Arch, and that’s important.”
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Andrea Adelson
The father of Florida State linebacker Ethan Pritchard was on the sideline Saturday for the Seminoles’ game against East Texas A&M.
Earl Pritchard and another family member were on the sideline wearing his son’s No. 35 jersey. Ethan Pritchard remains hospitalized in Tallahassee after surviving a gunshot wound to the head last weekend.
Prayers up. pic.twitter.com/NCTZyoxiTV
— Warchant.com (@Warchant) September 6, 2025
Florida State safety Earl Little Jr. brought out a No. 35 jersey to midfield for the coin toss, and Florida State players wore No. 35 wristbands to honor their teammate.
All Garnet with the Gold lids
Continuing to think about Ethan 🙏🏼#NoleFamily | #KeepCLIMBing pic.twitter.com/FD6GSNpo5F
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
#NoleFamily 🍢 pic.twitter.com/HSTjx9e7xp
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Defensive tackle Darrell Jackson Jr. wore a T-shirt with Pritchard’s face on it during pregame warmups.
According to Earl Pritchard, Ethan Pritchard was driving his aunt home when he was shot in the back of the head in Havana, Florida, 16 miles from Tallahassee, on Sunday night.
The Seminoles routed East Texas A&M 77-3 on Saturday, after which coach Mike Norvell presented Earl Pritchard with the game ball, and asked him to break the rock – a tradition generally given to the player of the game after each Seminoles victory.
💛♥️ #NoleFamily pic.twitter.com/kg2kJtMNRA
— FSU Football (@FSUFootball) September 6, 2025
Norvell grew emotional as he discussed Pritchard during his postgame media availability.
“The way that he plays the game … he loves it, he absolutely loves it. To know that right now that’s taken away from him in a senseless act, you don’t always know why you have to go through things in life but I do believe God has his hand over Ethan and this football team,” Norvell said.
“To have Earl here today – He’s a wonderful man, and being with him I know it’s so very hard. I know it’s hard for anybody to have to go through, but he told me early in this week, ‘I know where my boy wants to be so I’m going to go stand in his place for him.'”
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