Arizona and Houston each celebrated a postseason berth on Saturday night after the Astros defeated the Diamondbacks 1-0 in Phoenix.
Houston (89-72) solidified a spot in the American League playoffs with the victory, clinching at least a wild-card spot.
The Astros extended their postseason streak to seven years.
Arizona (84-77) earned the third and final National League wild card with the Cincinnati Reds’ 15-6 loss against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Saturday’s contest was a pitchers’ duel between Houston’s Justin Verlander and Arizona’s Merrill Kelly until Verlander was relieved by Phil Maton to start the Diamondbacks’ half of the sixth inning.
Verlander (13-8) allowed two hits with five strikeouts and three walks in five scoreless innings.
Kelly (12-8) recorded 93 pitches in his seven innings and allowed five hits and one run to go with five strikeouts and two walks.
Jose Abreu’s double with one out in the top of the fourth inning scored Kyle Tucker, who walked before him and stole second, to plate the lone run of the game.
The Diamondbacks put a runner on base in each of the first four innings but failed to score, leaving five on base. Verlander retired the side in order in the fifth inning.
Verlander walked Evan Longoria and Gabriel Moreno consecutively with two outs in the bottom of the second inning before Geraldo Perdomo flied out to right field.
The Diamondbacks loaded the bases in the seventh with one out.
Longoria reached on an infield single, Moreno singled and Perdomo sacrificed the runners to second and third base before Corbin Carroll walked. Hector Neris relieved Kendall Graveman and struck out Ketel Marte and got Tommy Pham to ground out to end the threat.
Bryan Abreu pitched the ninth inning to earn his fifth save this season.
The Diamondbacks have scored one run in their two losses to Houston in the three-game series that concludes Sunday. They produced four hits Friday and five Saturday.
–Field Level Media
