It really was a gorgeous night for playoff baseball at Globe Life Field in Arlington on Thursday. For a second straight glorious game, this time with my friend Karl Bowman, I was thrilled to be in attendance at the Astros-Rangers American League Championship Series Lone Star showdown.
The decision for Game 4 to be played with the roof open turned out to be ideal. It was clear, crisp and cool – a perfect fall evening for the perfect sport with (for those of us who are Astros fans) the perfect outcome: a 10-3 victory for the visitors that knotted the series at 2 games apiece entering Friday afternoon’s Game 1 rematch of the Rangers’ Jordan Montgomery and the Astros’ Justin Verlander.
Baseball can be a crazy game, and Game 4 had a flurry of those moments. Like the Astros escaping a jam when reliever Ryne Stanek entered to throw one pitch that resulted in a double play, ending a third inning in which the Rangers tied it 3-3 on Corey Seager’s solo blast. Even crazier, Stanek earned the win with that one pitch, because his team scored four runs in the top of the next inning to take a lead it never gave up.
But the most indescribably insane play came in the bottom of the fifth when, once again, the Rangers threatened with two hits to start the inning. Seager hit a screaming line drive to first baseman Jose Abreu, whose three-run homer had given the Astros their 7-3 edge. After making the catch, Abreu scrambled to try to tag Marcus Semien, who had strayed off first and was diving back.
Semien was initially called safe, but by something that could only be deemed a baseball miracle, replay review showed Abreu managed to tag Semien’s batting glove in his back pocket (baseball’s rules say anything ON the person is part of him), and the call was overturned. Rookie phenom Evan Carter lined out to center fielder Mauricio Dubon to end the inning, and another promising Rangers uprising had been snuffed out.
So this has turned into the series I’d hoped for but worried we wouldn’t get when the Rangers took a 2-0 lead in Houston – a competitive, fight-to-the-finish clash between the two AL teams that survived a grueling 162-game schedule and the early rounds of the playoffs to get here.
Thus far, it’s looked a lot like the Astros’ 2019 World Series against the Washington Nationals – the visiting team has won every game. That one ended with the Nationals pulling off what was regarded as a pretty major upset, winning Games 6 and 7 in Houston.
Will that happen in this series? Possibly, but not likely. Friday’s Game 5 is critical for both teams, because whichever one takes a 3-2 lead back to Houston for Sunday’s Game 6 will have a sizable advantage.
Then again, home has been anything but sweet for the Astros this season. They compiled an awful 39-42 record at Minute Maid Park during the regular season and are 1-3 there during the playoffs. On the road, they were 51-30 during the season and are 4-0 in the postseason. For them to move on to the World Series and defend their title, that’ll obviously have to change.
Much as I’d love to attend a third straight game, there’s only so much money I can spend on Astros playoff tickets. Plus, I’m taking our youngest to the State Fair late this afternoon after work, so I’ll be listening on the radio on the way there and then monitoring Game 5 on my phone at the fair.
Let the playoff drama continue, and may the Astros’ winning ways continue as well. 😊
A Life of Words 