The Houston Astros crashed out of the playoffs in Game 7, losing to the Texas Rangers by a score of 11-4. It wasn't the way the Astros wanted to see their season come to an end, especially after they took a 3-2 series lead on the Rangers before returning to their home field for Games 6 & 7. While there's still a lot of raw emotions surrounding the team, Martin Maldonado has opted to look on the bright side.

The Astros defense of their 2022 World Series victory never really went according to plan in the regular season, but they still managed to find their way to the ALCS for the seventh straight season. And even though they didn't come out on top, Maldonado said he was still proud of what his team managed to accomplish throughout the season.

“It’s frustrating, but at the same time, I feel like we accomplished a lot of stuff. It wasn’t easy all year. We had a lot of injuries. I’m really proud of this group of guys. We never gave up. Just to make it seven in a row, it’s pretty special.” – Martin Maldonado, The Athletic

The Astros never go down without a fight, and while they ultimately collapsed in this series, you can make an argument that they exceeded expectations given how rocky their regular season campaign was at times. Houston will head back to the drawing board this offseason as they try to find a way to get back to the top of the proverbial mountain, but Maldonado is holding his head high despite the team's unfortunate result.