(SportsRadio 610) - Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña has delivered in a couple of big time situations in the first two games of this American League Division Series matchup with the Seattle Mariners, helping them to a 2-0 series lead.
While the Astros and Peña himself were down in the count in the bottom of the eighth inning Tuesday afternoon, and his team trailing 7-5 with two-outs and a 1-2 count, Peña lined a slider into right field.
That single set up Yordan Alvarez for statistically, the most improbable walk-off home run in postseason history, giving the Astros an 8-7 victory in game one of the ALDS.
Alvarez, who has become one of baseballs most feared hitters, couldn’t have picked a more perfect time to send pitchers into a panic.
It is Halloween season after all.
Thursday afternoon, Peña set the stage once again for Alvarez in the home half of the sixth-inning, with a two-out, bloop-single to center.
Alavarez deposited the second pitch he saw, a 98mph sinker, into the Crawford Boxes to give the Astros a 3-2 lead.
With the intensity and anxiousness ramping up as each inning passed, the Astros were in search of an insurance run and had the right guy coming up in the home-half of the eighth, if they could just get one guy on base.
After two quick outs to start the frame with Maldonado and Altuve being retired in just four pitches, Peña worked a two-out, seven-pitch walk to bring Alvarez to the plate.
The Mariners quickly decided to intentionally walk Alvarez, putting runners on first and second for Alex Bregman.
The Astros third baseman, who hit a home run and drove in two runs in Tuesday’s win, delivered in the clutch once again, sending a 101mph fastball back up the middle to score a sliding Peña, who dashed home from second base on the play to give the Astros a 4-2 lead and the insurance they needed.
Ryan Pressley ushered the Mariners to the door in the ninth, earning the save and a 2-0 series lead for the Astros.
The series shifts to Seattle for game 3 on Saturday afternoon.
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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