The four were second baseman Jose Altuve, shortstop Carlos Correa, outfielder Michael Brantley, and relief pitcher Ryan Pressly, although none of them participated in the game.
This marked the third consecutive season that an Astros player was named a finalist for the AL Rookie of the Year Award, following Yordan Alvarez, who won it unanimously in 2019, and Cristian Javier, who finished in third in 2020.
[3] Pitchers that elected for free agency included Joe Biagini, Chase De Jong, Roberto Osuna, Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, and Dustin Garneau Players that were traded or claimed in the offseason by a different team included Brandon Bailey, Humberto Castellanos, Cionel Pérez, Carlos Sanabria, Cy Sneed, and Jack Mayfield.
Yordan Alvarez, returning from dual knee surgery that cost him nearly all of the 2020 season, drove in three runners, and Michael Brantley and Alex Bregman hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning.
[22] In the May 25 contest versus the Los Angeles Dodgers, Greinke became the 135th pitcher in major league history to reach 3,000 career innings.
[24] In the June 6 contest versus the Blue Jays, infielder Aledmys Díaz suffered a fracture in his left hand on a hit by pitch delivered from Ross Stripling.
[26] Third baseman Alex Bregman injured his left quadriceps in the first inning of the June 16 game as he attempted to avoid hitting into a double play.
[30] On July 30, the Astros traded Myles Straw to the Cleveland Indians for reliever Phil Maton and minor league catcher Yainer Díaz.
[32] Jake Meyers made his Major League debut on August 1 as a pinch hitter in the ninth inning of a 5–3 loss to the San Francisco Giants.
[35] José Siri made his major league debut on September 3 as a pinch runner in the ninth inning versus the San Diego Padres.
[38] In the September 17 contest versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, Jose Altuve homered off Madison Bumgarner at Minute Maid Park to collect his 849th career hit in the stadium.
[41] During the final road trip of the season, twenty-seven members of the team paid homage to veteran pitcher Zack Greinke, known for his leisurely dress style.
Lance McCullers Jr. also brought in a bag of groceries from Whole Foods – as is Greinke's habit to fill his locker – as replenishment for their upcoming flight.
The team had chosen to honor the pitcher, in the final year of his contract, after a 7–6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in which had allowed five runs over four innings, raising his ERA on the season to 4.11.
Ryan Pressly completed a scoreless ninth in his 60th appearance of the season in this game, concluding the final condition for his contract for 2022 to fully vest.
[44] The Astros clinched the AL West on September 30 with a win over Tampa Bay at Minute Maid Park for their fourth division title in five seasons.
[45] In the final game of the 2021 regular season, Yuli Gurriel hit a walk-off single to score Jason Castro and defeat the Oakland Athletics.
† Minimum 3.1 plate appearances per team games played AVG qualified batters: Altuve, Alvarez, Brantley, Correa, Gurriel, Tucker
The White Sox would storm back in the 5th, on RBI singles from Luis Robert & José Abreu and a sac fly from Yasmani Grandal.
Center fielder Jake Meyers sustained an injury to his left shoulder while attempting to catch Sheets' home run ball on the fly.
Astros closer Ryan Pressly would allow a single to Eloy Jiménez but shut the door afterwards to send Houston to their fifth straight ALCS.
Eovaldi struck out Kyle Tucker, then intentionally walked Yuli Gurriel, which brought Chas McCormick's spot to bat.
Jason Castro next batted for Maldonado, and with a 1–2 count, umpire Laz Díaz called a slow curveball on that appeared to find the outside corner for a ball.
Kendall Graveman struck out pinch-hitter Travis Shaw; at that instant, Maldonado threw perfectly to Carlos Correa, covering second, to catch Verdugo attempting to steal for an inning-ending double play.
In the seventh inning, the Braves' Dansby Swanson stepped up and hit a game-tying solo home run off reliever Cristian Javier.
Tyler Matzek pitched a scoreless top of the eighth, aided by a great catch by Eddie Rosario robbing Jose Altuve of extra bases.
In the top of the fifth, a two-run home run by Dansby Swanson followed by a walk then a two-out double by Freddie Freeman extended Atlanta's lead to 6–0.
Tyler Matzek entered in relief in the bottom of the seventh; Fried allowed no runs on four hits while striking out six batters and walking none in six innings.
He allowed a leadoff single to Michael Brantley and retired the next three batters, the last out being a Yuli Gurriel infield grounder fielded by Swanson, who threw to Freeman, giving the Braves the title.
[72] Five Astros players were announced on October 25, 2021, as finalists for the Silver Slugger Award, including Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Correa, Yuli Gurriel, and Kyle Tucker.