The Houston Astros carried the momentum from last night’s seven-run ninth inning and turned that into a dominant 9-1 win behind a gem of a performance from Framber Valdez on the bump and a powerful showing from Yordan Alvarez at the dish.
How It Happened
After both teams went down in order in the first inning, Yordan Alvarez immediately made a statement by sending the first pitch that he saw over the Green Monster to take an early 1-0 lead.
It remained a one run contest until the top of the sixth when the Astros really took over the contest. After an Alex Bregman ground out that put runners on second and third, Alvarez answered the call with a two-run double, giving Houston some breathing room. Yuli Gurriel then made it a 4-0 ballgame later in the inning with a two-out RBI double and that was followed up by a two-run single from Jose Siri off of a fly ball to right field.
The Red Sox avoided the shutout on Wednesday night with a solo shot from Rafael Devers in the bottom of the seventh, but the lead was too much for them to overcome this late in the contest. Gurriel put the finishing touches on the victory with a two-run single in the ninth and Houston is now just one win away from their third World Series appearance in six years.
Big Number: 8
One of the big talking points from the ALCS has been the poor performance from the starting pitching and Framber Valdez had without a doubt the best showing of this series, throwing eight stellar innings and saving the bullpen for the rest of the series as it returns to Minute Maid on Friday night.
Player of the Game: Yordan Alvarez
Alvarez has been a rising star in the league and the moment hasn’t been too big for someone like him, coming up a triple shy of the cycle and having three RBIs was nothing short of impressive.
Next Up: Game Six vs Boston; First Pitch at 7:08