Astros wake up and tie series against Red Sox
The Astros were six outs from falling 3-1 in the American League Championship Series. In those circumstances, they would have had to risk their lives during a fifth game at Fenway Park, where Boston had not lost the entire postseason.
Suddenly, the Houston bats came to life.
José Altuve tied the score with a home run in the eighth inning for the Astros, who woke up with seven runs in the ninth to beat the Red Sox 9-2 on Tuesday night and tie the series to two wins each.
The Astros, the West Division champions, are now guaranteed a return to Houston.
“Now it’s a series of three games, including two at home,” said Altuve.
In a series that had been dominated by batting – particularly Boston’s – the two teams hit home runs in the first inning. Then the pitching bodies hung six consecutive zeros at Fenway.
The blow from the Venezuelan Altuve changed the narrative in the first turn of the eighth inning.
Carlos Correa doubled and scored the lead run with a single off Jason Castro with two outs in the ninth inning. But Houston was just getting started.
“This is one of the best things about baseball. When it seems like you’re dead and things aren’t going well, boom boom boom, suddenly you have seven runs, ”said Dusty Baker, the Astros manager.
Boston had rocked Houston’s pitchers with 10 home runs in the series, including three grand slams that set a record and bulged the scoreboard in the second and third games.
“This is what they’ve done to us throughout the series,” Baker said. “But we are also capable of doing it.”
Alex Bregman hit a solo home run over the Green Monster in the first inning. Xander Bogaerts hit a monumental two-run club late in the episode, sending the ball down Landsdowne Street for Boston to take the 2-1 lead.
Then the pitchers took over. The score remained the same as Altuve opened the eighth inning by hitting his home run off Garrett Whitlock.
Nathan Eovaldi, who had won Game 2, served his first relief since 2019, when he recovered from injury. He appeared in the ninth chapter and immediately accepted a double from Correa.
With two outs and two on board, Castro pushed Correa off with a single that gave Houston the lead.
And the Astros didn’t get tired of scoring.
Michael Brantley hit a three-run double off Martin Perez. Yordan Alvarez added an RBI single. Kyle Tucker hit one more with another single.
For the Astros, Venezuelan Altuve 4-1 with two runs scored and one RBI. The Cubans Álvarez 4-2 with one scored and one produced, Yuli Gurriel 4-1 with one scored, Aledmys Díaz 1-0. The Puerto Ricans Correa 5-2 with a scored, Martín Maldonado 2-0.
For the Red Sox, Puerto Ricans Kiké Hernández 5-1, Christian Vázquez 3-0. Rafael Devers 4-1 with a run scored. The Mexican Alex Verdugo 3-0.
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