A whopping 4 home runs, including a bench clearing triggered by a bat flip from the younger brother of a former LG Twins foreign player. It was Houston’s little giant, Jose Altuve (33), who ended the tumultuous Game 5, which featured repeated comebacks and comebacks.

The Houston Astros won 5-4 over the Texas Rangers in Game 5 of the 2023 Major League American League Championship Series (ALCS, best of 7) held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, USA on the 21st (Korean time).

In major league postseason history, in a best-of-seven series, the team with a 3-2 lead won the series in 71% of cases (79 out of 112). In a series held in the format of 2 home games – 3 away games – 2 home games based on the top team, the team that won the 5th away game and recorded 3 wins and 2 losses won the series in a whopping 80% of cases (20 out of 25). It has reached.

Houston, who went on the road after two consecutive losses at home, swept all three games away to Texas and was only one win away from reaching the World Series for the second year in a row. Houston, which rose to the top by defeating the Philadelphia Phillies last year, finished first in the American League West this year, then defeated the Minnesota Twins with a series record of 3-1 in the division series and faced Texas. Houston, which is building a dynasty by advancing to the Championship Series for seven consecutive years, is aiming to win its third World Series following 2017 and 2022.

On the other hand, Texas’ 7-game winning streak that began in the Wild Card Series faded with this 3-game losing streak. Texas, with a series record of 2 wins and 3 losses, must create a miracle in Games 6 and 7 to be held at Minute Maid Park, Houston’s home stadium, on the 23rd and 24th. According to MLB.com, the official Major League Baseball website, the Washington Nationals, who won the 2019 World Series, were the first team to win both away games and win the series in the postseason. Another point worth noting is that the team that lost at that time was Houston.

The winner of the day was Altuve. Although he only had 1 hit in 5 at-bats, that 1 hit was a three-run comeback in the top of the 9th inning when the team was losing. According to MLB.com, with this home run, Altuve became the player with the most home runs in Major League history with 11 home runs in the American League Championship Series.
October 21 Houston Astros-Texas Rangers Starting Lineups
Houston has Jose Altuve (second baseman) – Mauricio Dubon (center fielder) – Alex Bregman (third baseman) – Yadier Alvarez (designated hitter) – Kyle Tucker (right fielder) – Chas McCormick (left fielder) – Jeremy Peña (shortstop) – The batting lineup consisted of Martin Maldonado (catcher). The starter is Justin Verlander.

Texas: Marcus Simeon (second baseman) – Corey Seager (shortstop) – Evan Carter (left fielder) – Adolis Garcia (right fielder) – Leody Tavares (center fielder) – Josh Young (third baseman) – Nathaniel Low (first baseman) – Mitch Garber (designated hitter) and Jonah Haim (catcher) formed the batting lineup. The starter is Jordan Montgomery.
TEX Garcia’s come-from-behind three-run and bat flip → bench clearing… Altuve finished it, and HOU won with a come-from-behind 3-run home run in the top of the 9th inning.

Montgomery, considered Texas’ best trade recruit this season, started as the starter. Before this game, Montgomery stood tall as an ace, leading Texas to 7 consecutive postseason wins with 2 wins and no losses in 3 games and an ERA of 2.08.

However, he also faltered against the Houston batting lineup that was gaining momentum. The 92.9 miles per hour (approximately 149.5 km) sinker thrown to Bregman with two outs in the top of the first inning went nicely at chest height, becoming a left-center solo shot with a distance of 416 feet. Houston leads 1-0.

They seemed to be shaken by allowing a heavy hit to Alvarez, but that was only for a moment, and they continued their streak of 10 batters in a row until the 4th inning, laying the foundation for a counterattack. With one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, Rowe hit Verlander’s fifth pitch four-seam fastball and tied the score at 1-1 with a solo shot to left.

However, poor defense prevented Montgomery from achieving a quality start. With one out in the top of the sixth inning, Bregman walked and Alvarez got on base with a hit to right, and Texas shortstop Seager was unable to catch Abreu’s ground ball coming toward him. The ball bounced off Seager’s glove and headed toward the center of the outfield, giving Houston a 2-1 lead. Montgomery then walked Tucker and was replaced by Josh Sbotz. Fortunately, Sborz did not allow additional runs, and Montgomery finished the game with 5 hits (1 home run), 2 walks, 3 strikeouts, and 2 runs in 5⅓ innings.안전놀이터

At the plate, Adolis Garcia, the younger brother of former LG Twins foreign hitter Adonis Garcia, led the early game. In the top of the 4th inning, Garcia rushed Bregman’s long ball from a distance and caught it in front of the fence, raising the mood at home. In the 6th inning, with 1 out and runners on 1st and 3rd base, he attacked Verlander’s first pitch four-seam fastball and set off a come-from-behind three-run that went wide over the center field fence. Texas’ 4-2 comeback.

Verlander lowered his head and was eventually replaced by Hector Neris after being hit by Young, and failed to make a quality start with 6 hits (2 home runs), 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, and 4 runs in 5⅔ innings.

The stadium, heated by the home run, became even more heated by the bench clearing. Brian Abreu, who replaced Neris in the bottom of the 8th inning, walked Carter and then hit Garcia. Earlier, Garcia’s bat flip, staring at the batted ball and slowly walking to first base, seemed to be the reason.

Garcia got angry at catcher Maldonado, and soon players from both teams rushed out and the bench clearing began. As a result of this incident, Abreu, Garcia, and Houston coach Dusty Baker were ejected from the game.

In a situation where there was no head coach, Houston turned the atmosphere around with good defense. With no outs on first and second base, first baseman Abreu caught Tavares’ batted ball and threw it to second base, catching the runner on first base, and substitute closer Ryan Pressley struck out Young and Rowe. Texas missed the chance to reach first and second base with no outs without conceding a run, which became the starting point of a dramatic turn of events.

Houston continued the momentum in the top of the 9th inning when pinch hitter Jainer Diaz singled to left and another pinch hitter John Singleton walked against Jose LeCluck. Here, on the second pitch, Altuve lifted a change-up that came low to the body and fired a three-run turn from left to right.

Texas, down 4-5, attempted to catch up in the bottom of the 9th inning with back-to-back hits by Garber and Haim, but all subsequent batters retired with bad hits and were on the verge of elimination.