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After falling in a 0-2 hole and scoring just four runs in Houston, the Astros went up I-45 to Dallas to continue the ALCS with the Rangers. In a park where Houston has found success in recent months, the Astros were able to have a big offensive night and take a win back in the ALCS by taking down the Rangers 8-5 at Globe Life Field.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After both the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers went three up and three down to open the game, Yordan Alvarez became the first base runner of the game in the second inning when he was hit by a pitch from Max Scherzer. Later in the inning, Kyle Tucker walked to put runners on first and second before a single from Mauricio Dubon loaded the bases.
A wild pitch from Scherzer brought Alvarez home and put Houston on the board 1-0 before a single from Martin Maldonado hit a single to score two more and make it a 3-0 lead for the Astros.
Then in the third inning, Jose Altuve got his first hit of the ALCS with a solo home run to center to increase the Houston lead to 4-0. Then in the fourth, Dubon delivered with another big hit, this time scoring Jose Abreu to make it a 5-0 game in the fourth inning.
The Rangers would not stay down, however, as the rookie sensation Josh Jung launched a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to make it 5-2 in one of the few mistakes Cristian Javier has made tonight.
In the seventh, the Astros got the runs back after singles from Maldonado and Altuve set up an Alex Bregman walk to load the bases with just one out. Then, Alvarez delivered as he typically does in the postseason with a two-run single that made it a 7-2 game and gave Alvarez his 10th RBI of the postseason.
In the bottom of the inning, Nate Lowe got on with a single before Jung launched his second homer of the night to make it a 7-4 game after seven complete innings.
The Astros answered almost immediately in the eighth as Kyle Tucker started the inning with a walk before advancing to third on a hit-and-run single from Dubon. Then, last year’s World Series MVP Jeremy Pena laced one into right field to score Tucker and make it 8-4 with nobody out.
The Rangers got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single from Adolis Garcia that scored Marcus Semien and made it an 8-5 game heading into the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the night, the Rangers got a base runner on, but Ryan Pressley was able to induce a double play to end the game and pick up the win for the Astros 8-5 to make the series 2-1 in favor of the Rangers.
BIG NUMBER: 47
After scoring 8 runs tonight in Game 3, that means the Houston Astros have scored 47 runs in their last four games at Globe Life Field.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cristian Javier
Javier had a great performance tonight that gave the Astros’ offense the opportunity to put runs on the board. Javier went 5.2 innings, giving up just three hits (all in the fifth), two runs (two-run HR) and three strikeouts.
UP NEXT: Game 4 of the American League Championship Series will take place at Globe Life Field on Thursday night with the first pitch set for 7:03 p.m. You can hear the action on News Talk 98.5 and 1520 AM.