The Houston Astros are in grave danger of missing the playoffs entirely, and these six players deserve a majority of the blame.

What was once a 162-game marathon has now been reduced to a three-game weekend.

The Houston Astros have an 85-74 record this season and they ended a five-game losing streak when they beat the Athletics 11-5 on Thursday. Houston is on the outside looking in for the postseason picture.

It's not a guarantee the Houston Astros are going to play in the postseason this year, but Framber Valdez made sure his team still has a chance. The Astros' lon

The winner of the Central battle is locked into the No. 3 seed in the AL playoffs, and will host a best-of-three Wild Card series next week. The loser could still feasibly finish as high as the No. 5 seed or fall out of the playoffs entirely, depending on other Wild Card machinations (more on that in a minute).

The Seattle Mariners aim for a sweep of the Houston Astros Sunday night at Daiken Park, looking to tighten their grip on the AL West race.

The Mariners were up 5-0 after a grand slam by J.P. Crawford in the second when Raleigh connected off Jason Alexander for his home run to extend the lead.

Houston Astros' left-handed pitcher Framber Valdez looked somewhat different when he took the mound against the Athletics on Thursday afternoon. It was hard to miss: in what could be Valdez's last start of the regular season as an Astro, he was missing his signature extensions, giving him a unique dreadlock hairstyle.

The slumping Houston Astros fell out of playoff position, managing just three hits against Jeffrey Springs and three Athletics relievers in a 5-1 loss.