Houston Astros do something never seen in the last 35 years of history in the division title Ru

There's an old saying, “You can't win a division in April, but you can lose one.” Well, those rules apparently don't apply to the Houston Astros, who overcame a truly terrible start to clinch the American League West title on Tuesday night.

On June 18, the Astros were as many as 10.0 games behind the Seattle Mariners, but they were able to overcome that deficit on Tuesday night, defeating the Mariners 4-3 to win the title.

Although the Mariners played a part in losing the division lead, the Astros' turnaround was truly historic.

According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

WHAT A CHANGE

the Astros started with 12-24

Only other teams to reach the playoffs after losing at least 24 of their first 36 decisions:

1914 Boston Braves: 11-25
1989 Blue Jays: 12-24
1981 Royals: 12-24 (split season, first in division in second half)

The Astros' determination this year has been amazing considering all the problems they've had to deal with. First of all, they have a first-year manager in Joe Espada who is just learning the ropes. Then they lost starting pitchers Jose Urquidy, Cristian Javier and JP France for the season to injuries. They also never saw anything from Lance McCullers or Luis Garcia, who are still recovering from injuries. Justin Verlander has missed a large portion of the season and hasn't looked good even when he's pitched.

But guys like Ronel Blanco stepped in to fill the gap and keep the team afloat.

Right now, the Astros would be the number 3 seed in the American League playoffs. They would play against the last wild card team, which is currently the Kansas City Royals.

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