It was 6-1, and by night’s end, Houston would increase its two-out postseason run total to 41, already ranking sixth in playoff history. Their ninth-inning Game 4 rally came with two outs and so, too, would the Game 5 pile-on, proving what can be done when you put the ball in play: A Kyle Tucker infield single, a Gurriel opposite-field dunker for an RBI double, a two-run double from rookie Jose Siri. "I can’t remember seeing anybody do it with that kind of strength."Īlvarez's double stretched the lead to 3-0 and finished Sale after 5 ⅓ innings, but the Astros only proceeded to prove how hard they are to eradicate. "To hit a ball out like that against one of the best lefties in the game in Sale, tells you how much talent. "The only thing that surprises me about Yordan is the amount of talent that guy has," says Astros first baseman Yuli Gurriel through an interpreter. The lefty swinger adds a crucial dimension that the Astros missed last season, when they fell one game short of the AL pennant as Alvarez sat out with knee injuries. He guided a 95-mph Sale fastball to left field, where it rattled into the corner for a two-run double and 3-0 lead.Īlvarez, more or less, singlehandedly wrecked Sale, who was otherwise outstanding. Altuve just kept going and probably he looked up, and then all of a sudden the throw was right there."Ī batter later, Alvarez – who homered off Sale in the second inning – pounced. "He looked at him," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Schwarber, "and that's probably why he dropped it. The daring dash possibly caught the eye of Boston’s Kyle Schwarber, who’s developed into a serviceable first baseman but still had just 11 career starts there entering the postseason. With Boston in a shift, Altuve failed to break stride and zoomed to third. With Michael Brantley batting, Altuve took off for second base and Brantley chopped a grounder to third baseman Rafael Devers, who charged and threw across the diamond. That man Altuve started it with a leadoff walk against Chris Sale, who to that point had given up just two hits, striking out seven and flashing his best stuff since returning in August from Tommy John surgery. Particularly in a sixth-inning, eight-batter barrage that former heavyweight champ and Houston native George Foreman might appreciate. "Then, everybody else contributed and chipped in." "This was in this hands of Framber, and really in the hands of Alvarez," says manager Dusty Baker. Wednesday’s rout completed the 24-hour barrage in this series of split personalities: Boston outscored the Astros 21-8 in Games 2 and 3, only for the Astros to respond with an 18-3 aggregate in winning Games 4 and 5. WATCH: Red Sox fan makes amazing catch on splintered batĪLCS: 'Fenway Baby' steals the show during Game 4 A two-out, seven-run rally in the ninth delivered a 9-2, series-tying win. They earned that advantage with a 10-inning blitz that began in Game 4, when Altuve’s eighth-inning home run tied the score just six outs before Boston would claim a 3-1 ALCS advantage. The Astros are jetting home to friendlier ground, a 3-2 ALCS lead in hand and two chances to win the pennant, beginning Friday night at Minute Maid Park. With left-hander Framber Valdez retiring the first 12 Red Sox hitters and galvanizing Houston’s emaciated pitching staff with eight innings of three-hit artistry, the Astros got out of town with a crisp 9-1 victory in front of 37,599, quite possibly the final gathering at Fenway this year. But in a startling two-game stretch, the Astros seized control of this American League Championship Series with a nearly perfect display of baseball that perched them on the verge of a third World Series trip in five years.Īltuve and Yordan Alvarez took the fight to the Boston Red Sox in Game 5, the diminutive second baseman sparking a five-run rally with an aggressive burst of baserunning and Alvarez putting on a majestic hitting clinic, driving three balls the opposite way over, off and beneath the Green Monster. It’s quite likely these Astros will never snuff out the boos, quiet the complaints and regain their good name among a vast majority of baseball fans. This time, in the dying moments of Game 5, the two gentlemen repeated it just twice before Altuve silenced them with a line drive single. Watch Video: Can Astros and Red Sox redeem legacies in the ALCS?īOSTON – When Jose Altuve came to bat in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday night, the boos from the Fenway Park crowd scarcely registered, a stark contrast to the full-throated cries of dissent that greeted the Houston Astros second baseman during his previous plate appearances here.Īs he dug into the batter’s box, a pair of fans directed a profane chant toward Altuve, a refrain that gained significant traction in Games 3 and 4 of this American League Championship Series.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |