HOUSTON — The phrase “near and yet so far” may never be more applicable than throughout the later stages of Game 5 of the ALCS between the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros. After a back and forth affair reached the middle innings, the Rangers stormed back to take a lead that looked to be the sequence that postseason highlight montages are made of.
Instead, as has almost exclusively been the case for this franchise in these kinds of moments in October, it will not be the team with the T adorning their hat that is highlighted in the archival footage. After the gut-wrenching blown save in the 9th inning that everyone had been dreading, Texas now faces consecutive win-or-go-home games in Houston.
Where we stand
The firestarter – Adolis Garcia had been having himself a pretty good ALCS, contributing hits throughout the series that helped Texas, but it was nothing compared to the big moment for the Rangers in Game 5. After Houston had just taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the 6th inning, Astros’ ace Justin Verlander started to show cracks in the armor by allowing a Corey Seager double and Evan Carter single with one out, bringing Garcia to the plate.
Garcia, a hitter known for clutch theatrics, proved up to the task again, taking a 95-MPH fastball middle-in on the plate and sending it 396 feet to left field for a crowd-electrifying home run.
It was the kind of shot that, had the outcome had been different, would have been a moment that would be replayed by Rangers fans forever.
Montgomery wins another duel – While the end result might not tell the full story, Jordan Montgomery again out-dueled Verlander, just as he did in Game 1. Even though the Rangers’ lefty allowed two runs this time, compared to zero runs last time, he still pitched well enough to keep the Rangers in the game.
Ultimately, Montgomery was lifted after 5 ⅓ innings of work, having given up one solo home run to Alex Bregman in the 1st and a rocket of an RBI-single to Jose Abreu that took a short hop off the glove of Corey Seager; if Seager comes up with that ball cleanly, it’s an inning-ending double-play, but alas, it was a run-scoring single.
Montgomery and Verlander both threw 82 pitches, 54 for strikes. Verlander, though, gave up four total runs on six hits and had been in line for the loss, if not for Jose Altuve bailing him out.
Iced – Jose Leclerc was again asked to bail Aroldis Chapman out of a jam. In the top of the 8th, Chapman retired his fellow Cubans, the dangerous duo of Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu, before allowing a double to Kyle Tucker. Leclerc was called upon for yet another four-out save and escaped the 8th after an 8-pitch battle with Michael Brantley.
Then in the bottom of the inning, Garcia came to bat again, and the Astros plunked him in the arm, looking to instigate Garcia after his emotional go-ahead home run trot. The ensuing squabble resulted in a near half-hour delay from the top of the 8th and top of the 9th. While Leclerc would say there were no excuses, the lengthy delay between innings no doubt played a part in the loss of command and throwing of hittable pitches that led to Altuve’s game-changing (and possibly series-defining) three-run home run.
Game 6 match-up
Texas Rangers (2-3) @ Houston Astros (3-2) , 7:03 pm CT – Minute Maid Park, Houston, Texas – Broadcast on FS1
Starting Pitchers – Nathan Eovaldi (3-0, 2.29 ERA) vs. Framber Valdez (0-2, 11.57 ERA)
Another rematch means another game of adjustments. Nathan Eovaldi was able to make early in-game adjustments in Game 2, using the Astros aggressiveness against them to keep them swinging at pitches out of the zone and making weak contact. Framber Valdez was not able to make the same adjustments. The Rangers jumped on Valdez early in the count and early in the game, scoring four runs off him in the 1st inning and rattled him to the point that he was lifted in the 3rd inning.
The Rangers’ bullpen made Game 2 interesting, barely able to protect a 5-3 lead after Eovaldi departed the game after six innings with nine strikeouts.
What makes this matchup more intriguing is the win-or-go-home nature of elimination games. All hands for the Rangers are on deck – whether that means Max Scherzer out of the bullpen, or even Montgomery being asked to record a key out, nobody on Bochy’s team appears to be ready to go home yet. The strategy is to figure out Game 6 on Sunday and deal with, hopefully, a Game 7 on Monday.
Avoid or Continue
Avoid: Letting Minute Maid get juiced – The crowd, at times, in Globe Life Field far outshined the crowd at Minute Maid Park. But the crowd that might await the Rangers as they return to Houston, especially after watching their team get fired up by the donnybrook in Game 5, might get far more raucous. How can Texas take the crowd out of it?
Continue: Pouncing on Valdez early – Two pitches into Game 2 and Valdez was facing two runners on with nobody out. Robbie Grossman, who likely will be back in the lineup on Sunday until Valdez is out, forced Valdez into action by hitting a squibber in front of the plate that Valdez threw away to give Texas an early lead.
Revisiting the approach that made them so successful during the Wild Card and Division Series games is going to be key for the offense to give Eovaldi some breathing room.
Avoid: Meatballs – The approach to Houston’s best hitters has not been an especially sound one of late. In short, the Texas staff has not been throwing enough quality strikes or quality pitches and, no surprise, the Astros have been making them pay for those mistakes.
Both of Altuve’s home runs in Arlington were in locations that Altuve feasts upon – low and in and high-middle. Alvarez’ run-producing contact was made on pitches middle-middle and low-middle. Abreu cranked a home run in Game 4 on a fastball that wasn’t far enough in or far enough up. Execution becomes key if Texas wants a shot at a deciding Game 7.
Avoid: Chapman – It may be time to throw away the idea of using Chapman in high leverage situations. Twice now, Leclerc has had to bail the once-feared fireballer out of jams, extending his typical usage and lessening his effectiveness.
In Game 2, Leclerc was able to buckle down and seal the win. In Game 5, the overuse eventually came back to bite them. Chapman getting into trouble only means that Leclerc can’t be used where he’s most effective – for a single inning without having to sit between outs.
The Rangers might be two wins away from a World Series, but the number that they really have to worry about tonight is one. There is one goal ahead of them now and that is to win Game 6 where they can even the series. They cannot win it tonight.
If Texas can’t put Game 6 behind them, or finds themselves pondering the possibilities of a Game 7, “near and yet so far” might be applicable to this October run in totality.
Do you think the Rangers can send the ALCS to a Game 7? Share your predictions with Matt on Twitter @FisherWritesMLB.