At certain points of the season, you saw the potential that the Houston Astros had of being a World Series champion. Now they’re just four games away from realizing that potential, shutting out the Boston Red Sox 5-0 behind a stellar performance at the dish from ALCS MVP Yordan Alvarez.
How It Happened:
After the Astros sat the Red Sox down in the top of the first, the two-out magic continued on Friday night with Alex Bregman hitting a single and then finding his way home after Alvarez hit one all the way to the warning track for a double to take the early 1-0 lead.
It remained a 1-0 ballgame until the bottom of the sixth when Alvarez struck again and hit a leadoff triple to right field. After Jose Altuve was hit by a pitch, Kyle Tucker grounded into a double play, but scored Alvarez in the process to make it a 2-0 advantage.
Things looked to be firmly in control as both teams headed to the bottom of the eighth, but Tucker came up huge two-out, three-run dinger to make it 5-0 and put the game out of reach for Boston.
Big Number: 10
The Astros pitching staff had a rough go of things early on in the ALCS, but they turned it around the last few contests, ending with ten strikeouts in game six, seven of which came from starter Luis Garcia.
Player of the Game: Yordan Alvarez
Alvarez was the ALCS MVP and deservedly so based on his performance at the dish, going 4-for-4 and a home run shy of the cycle for the second time in the series.
Next Up: Tuesday vs Winner of Dodgers-Braves NLCS