In one of the greatest games in franchise history – a rollercoaster ALCS confrontation with enough thrills and spills to fill a season – the Astros demoralized the Rangers 5-4 on Jose Altuve’s three-run home run in the ninth inning on Friday night.
Altuve’s monumental homer and Ryan Pressly’s two innings of outstanding relief sucked the life out of deflated Rangers’ fans, sending the Metroplex into a state of depression and the ALCS back to Houston with the Astros needing one more victory to reach a third consecutive World Series.
This game between American League West rivals had just about everything you’d want to intensify an already-bitter rivalry in the Lone Star State – dramatic home runs, pressure-packed pitching and fielding and a bench-clearing, bullpen-emptying brawl that resulted in manager Dusty Baker, reliever Bryan Abreu and Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia being ejected in the eighth inning.
The brawl and subsequent ejections seemed to awaken the Astros, who trailed 4-2, setting the stage for Altuve’s heroics that ignited the Astros to a third consecutive victory at Globe Life Field after the Rangers won the first two games at Minute Maid Park.
Framber Valdez, 0-2 with a 11.57 earned run average in postseason, gets the Sunday night start. The Rangers are countering with Alvin native Nathan Eovaldi, 3-0 with a 2.29 ERA. If Sunday’s game is anything like the last one at Globe Life Field, it’ll be must-see TV.
The Astros led 1-0 in the sixth, thanks to Alex Bregman’s home run in the first inning off Jordan Montgomery. Justin Verlander was cruising until Nathaniel Lowe tied the score with an opposite-field home run in the fifth.
Jose Abreu drove in Bregman for a 2-1 lead in the sixth. Baker was feeling good about Verlander’s performance, but then the proverbial bottom fell out when Garcia smashed a three-run homer for a 4-2 lead.
Garcia showboated at the plate, and while walking to first base at a snail’s pace, he slammed his bat to the ground and took his time rounding the bases. After Verlander surrendered a single, he was done for the night and replaced by Hector Neris.
All hell broke loose in the eighth. Abreu walked Evan Carter to start the inning and then drilled Garcia in the shoulder, putting two on with no outs. An angry Garcia went after Martin Maldonado and the benches emptied.
The umpires decided Abreu threw at Garcia, which made no sense considering the circumstances – two on with no outs in a two-run game – and kicked him out. Baker came out of the dugout and argued so vigorously that he was ejected, too. Garcia also was ejected.
“I haven't been that mad in a long time,” Baker said. “And I don't usually get mad about nothing. It didn't make any sense to me. We got a two-run game, and they explain to me the guy just hit a three-run homer, but that was a mistake that he hit a three-run homer. His ball was down and in, and he wasn't trying to go down and in. We pitch him up. We pitch him up and in.
“Anytime you're throwing a projectile 97 miles an hour, some of them are going to get away. I don't care if you're Big League, Hall of Fame, I don't care who you are. I'm just glad we came back and won the game because we didn't do anything wrong.
“I was talking to (Rangers’ manager) Bruce Bochy. I can understand how he'd take exception to that. Nobody likes to get hit. But you're not going to add runs in the (eighth) inning in the playoffs when we're trying to win a game. How do you prove intent? That's what I don't understand.”
With Abreu vanquished from the game, Baker elected to bring in Pressly early. He inherited two runners with no outs and escaped the jam flawlessly, sweeping the floor to get ready for Altuve.
“Obviously, it was completely unintentional, one of those balls that just slipped out of his hand,” Pressly said about Abreu hitting Garcia. “Emotions ran high. And it's not the game that we want to do that kind of stuff.
“It's kind of a chaotic moment (and) you're trying to calm down. The best way you can do it is try to stay within yourself, don't try to do too much, let your defense work behind you, trust in Maldy and try to make quality pitches.”
Jose Leclerc, the Rangers’ closer who had replaced Aroldis Chapman in the eighth, faced two pinch hitters to start the ninth. Yainer Diaz led off with a single for his first hit of postseason. Then Jon Singleton drew a walk on a 3-2 changeup.
In the top of the ninth, Altuve supplied the exclamation point by launching his 382-foot home run to left field to give the Astros a 5-4 advantage. Altuve, who’s second in MLB history in playoff home runs, said this one was the best of his career.
“Yeah, I got to say this one, because it just happened and I still have the emotions, the adrenaline in me,” he said. “It was a cool moment because we ended up winning. I wanted to win this game since the first inning, so I was trying not to let anything distract me -- just pay attention to the game and be ready if I get in a situation like I did.
“I know everybody’s talking about the homer, but if you see Díaz's base hit and then Singleton walked, especially when he (Singleton) hasn't played in a lot of days, and coming from the bench facing probably one of the best closers in the playoffs. I think the key to score those runs was these two guys.”
The Astros still had to get through the Rangers’ half of the ninth. Pressly began the inning by allowing two singles before retiring three consecutive hitters to end the game and give him his first victory in postseason.
Pressly seemed more impressed with Altuve’s home run than his clutch performance.
“Every time Josey steps up to the plate, something special can happen,” Pressly said. “Josey is never too big for the moment. He thrives in those kind of situations. It's special to watch him play. I'm beyond grateful to be his teammate.”
Imagine the reception Garcia is going go get Sunday night when he steps to the plate for the first time at Minute Maid Park. Interestingly, Verlander had no issues with Garcia’s antics after his home run.
“I understand Adolis's reaction,” he said. “I don't think anybody is mad about him pimping a homer. It was the biggest homer of his career, quite honestly.
“I was disappointed the umpires threw out Abreu. The umpires are there to calm the situation, keep the game moving (and) not let things get escalated. They're there to determine if something was intentional or not. In that spot, I don't know how those six guys got together and determined they were sure it was intentional, because I think from a baseball perspective, it surely was not.”
Now the Astros get to – or have to – return to Minute Maid Park, where they’re 40-45 this season, including 1-3 in postseason. They’re 55-31 on the road, including a 19-3 record in their last 22 games away from home. In six consecutive victories in Arlington, including three in postseason, they averaged 10.3 runs a game.
The Astros won one game at Minute Maid Park against the Twins in the ALDS and lost both to the Rangers in the ALCS. If Valdez has another poor performance on Sunday and the Rangers win, the Astros are likely to play a Game 7 with Cristian Javier facing Max Scherzer for a spot in another World Series.
And few, if any, pitchers in baseball are better in postseason than El Reptil.
(John McClain can be heard Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday on Sports Radio 610 and Monday, Thursday and Sunday on Texans Radio, also on Sports Radio 610. He writes five columns a week and does three Houtopia Football Podcasts for SportsRadio610.com.)