HOUSTON -- Braves manager Walt Weiss has reminded his players that preseason prognosticators weren’t high on their chances this year. So, it was fitting for the underdog Martin Pérez to start the game that clinched Atlanta’s latest division crown. 

Pérez was a non-roster invitee who was designated for assignment on April 12. Nobody expected him to be in the position he was on Sunday afternoon, when he helped the Braves clinch the National League East with a 4-2 win over the Astros at Daikin Park.

Yet, there Pérez was after the game, celebrating Atlanta’s seventh division title within the past nine years. His determined effort created an opportunity for another unsung hero, , to hit the game-winning three-run homer in the sixth.

Yastrzemski homered three times during this 4-2 road trip that enabled Atlanta to spend the regular season’s final six games focused on the postseason. As things currently stand, the Braves will be the NL’s No. 3 seed. It looks like their Wild Card Series opponent will be either the Padres, Cubs or the division-rival Phillies. 

Adding to the underdog theme was the great escape act Victor Mederos completed after he relieved Pérez with one out and the bases loaded in the fifth. Mederos struck out Jose Altuve and induced Yainer Diaz’s inning-ending groundout.

Mederos didn’t anticipate being in this situation when he spent nearly all of this season’s first three months at the Triple-A level. The 25-year-old totaled 12 big-league appearances before this season. But the inexperience didn’t show as he has been a key bullpen piece during the season’s second half.