The Houston Astros made mincemeat of Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels. With a three-game sweep, they punked their divisional rival and made some history in the process.

On Sunday, Framber Valdez threw a career-high 13 strikeouts against the Angels. Hector Neris and Rafael Montero each threw two before Ryan Pressly struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning. Those 20 strikeouts are a total that has not been matched since 2019 and are the most in one game from Houston since 1999.

Not only did the Astros put up one of the best pitching performances in the team's history, but they also set the MLB record for most strikeouts in a three-game series with no extra innings. Although they accomplished this feat against the majors' leaders in striking out, it is nonetheless impressive.

On Friday, Cristian Javier threw 14 strikeouts and Enoli Paredes threw a pair. Javier's outstanding performance comes after he allowed no hits and one walk through seven innings in his previous start against the New York Yankees. On Saturday, Jose Urquidy threw fanned eight batters while Phil Maton and Seth Martinez each threw two strikeouts.

The Astros didn't even need the services of their best pitcher, Justin Verlander, to dominate the Angels. With Javier and Valdez becoming stars in their own right, Houston should have no issue winning the division again.

After a rocky start to the season, Houston has been outstanding. Returning to the World Serirs is a very legitimate outcome for this group.