MLB playoff picture: What does Astros-Angels mean for AL playoffs?

Game update: With Detroit’s win over the Red Sox and the Guardians’ win over the Rangers, the Astros have been eliminated from the playoffs.

The 2025 Major League Baseball season begins its final weekend of play today. As the games unfold, the Houston Astros, who have made the postseason in each of the last eight seasons, are fighting for their playoff lives.

And they might be eliminated before they take the field tonight.

The Astros are fighting for the final Wild Card spot in the American League, but they’ll need a lot of help in that fight, beyond what happens in their game against the Los Angeles Angels.

Let’s dive into the playoff scenarios for that game and more.

The Los Angeles Angels have already been eliminated from playoff contention.

The Astros are on the verge of being eliminated from playoff contention, and can be officially knocked out before the first pitch of tonight’s game.

Houston enters Saturday with an 85-75 record, one game behind both the Cleveland Guardians and the Detroit Tigers. At the moment, the Guardians are in first place in the AL Central due to their tiebreaker advantage over the Tigers, and the Tigers are in the final Wild Card spot.

If that were not enough, the Astros lose tiebreakers to both the Guardians and the Tigers. Houston lost their season series to both teams.

To get into the playoffs as the final Wild Card team -- their only path to the postseason -- the Astros need to win their final two games over the Angels. Then, they’ll need either the Tigers or the Guardians to lose their final two games as well.

That means that if the Tigers beat Boston and the Guardians beat the Texas Rangers earlier in the day, the Astros will be eliminated before they take the field.