(SportsRadio 610) - Jeremy Peña clubbed his third home run of the postseason and second of the ALCS in the third inning, scoring Martin Maldonado and Jose Altuve to tie the game at 3-3.
The Astros' 25-year-old rookie’s 408-foot blast off lefty Nestor Cortes sent the Yankees' starter to the bench and helped breath life back into his team.
In the previous 10 games played between the Astros and Yankees, including the regular season, the Yankees had only held the lead twice, both times at the end of the game when Aaron Judge delivered walk-off hits to beat the Astros in June.
As Peña rounded third base Sunday night in New York, all the rookie sensation could do is shrug his shoulders as he looked into the Astros dugout to see his teammates celebrating.
“These guys have given me all of the confidence in the world since day one,” Peña said during the celebration on the field. “We root for each other and that’s what makes us good.”
One of the keys to Peña and the Astros' success this season is the rookie hitting in the two-spot.
Behind the leadoff man Jose Altuve, Peña hit .290 with 13 home runs and 31 RBI in 49 games during the regular season. The Astros were 47-2 in those games.
The rookie has ramped things up this postseason, hitting .303 with three home runs and five RBI. In the sweep against the Yankees, he hit .352 with two doubles, a pair of homers and four RBI, earning him the ALCS MVP award.
Remarkably, having won the American League Pennant three times prior to Sunday, the Astros still have the three previous ALCS MVPs on this year's team: Justin Verlander (2017), Jose Altuve (2019) and Yordan Alvarez (2021).
Peña delivered one of the most memorable home runs in Astros history earlier this postseason, when he clobbered an 18th-inning go-ahead home run to beat the Seattle Mariners in game two of the ALDS.
With Sunday night's home run in the third inning, Peña became just the fifth rookie ever to homer in multiple potential series-clinching games in a single postseason.
Randy Arozarena did it three times in 2020 for the Tampa Bay Rays. Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger did it in 2017, as did Yankees slugger Aaron Judge. Kyle Schwarber was the first rookie to accomplish the feat in 2015 with the Chicago Cubs.
After Sunday’s 6-5 victory over the Yankees, who have lost a record five consecutive ALCS appearances, Peña and the Astros will face the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series, beginning Friday night in Houston.
Shaun Bijani has spent the last 16 years covering the Houston sports scene for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @ShaunBijani.
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