What to expect from the Rangers-Astros ALCS series
It’s all about Texas in this year’s ALCS. The Rangers enter this series 5-0, but they’re going up against the Astros who historically seem unstoppable in the playoffs.
HOUSTON — At this point, the Houston Astros are almost a permanent part of the late-October prime time lineup.
Sunday night, they take aim at a third consecutive World Series appearance when they play host to the Texas Rangers in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park. A victory Sunday or in Game 7 Monday means Houston becomes the first team to appear in three consecutive Fall Classics since the New York Yankees appeared in four in a row from 1998-2001.
Game 6 pits a pair of playoff stalwarts on the mound: Framber Valdez won a pair of World Series games in 2022 and is the winningest pitcher from the Dominican Republic in playoff history, his seven wins one more than countryman Pedro Martinez.
Rangers right-hander Nathan Eovaldi, who totes a 2.87 career playoff ERA, was stellar in his Game 2 victory at Minute Maid, and will need to be on point again to force a Game 7. Texas is seeking its first World Series berth since winning consecutive AL pennants in 2010 and ’11 – and is still searching for its first championship in franchise history.
Follow along for live updates from Game 6 at Minute Maid Park:
HOUSTON – Nathan Eovaldi is giving the Texas Rangers exactly what they needed.
He’s pitched six quality innings and left the tying run on base as the Rangers held on to a 3-2 lead through six innings of ALCS Game 6.
With his club facing elimination, Eovaldi kept the Astros off balance with his beguiling pitch mix, coming at them with his four-seam fastball that touched 98 mph, a split-finger fastball that dive-bombed the dirt around home plate and a cutter and curve that kept them off balance.
He gave up singles to Yordan Alvarez and Jose Abreu in the bottom of the sixth, but limited the damage to a Mauricio Dubon sacrifice fly, even as his fastball velocity dipped from the upper 90s to 94. The Rangers still must find nine outs to force a decisive Game 7 Monday night at Minute Maid Park.
HOUSTON – The Texas Rangers are not going quietly in Game 6 of the American League Championship Series.
Catcher Jonah Heim skied a two-run home run off Framber Valdez with two outs in the top of the fourth inning, giving the Rangers a 3-1 lead in the first game they’ve faced elimination this year.
Heim’s homer came two innings after Mitch Garver tied the score with his own home run. Both sluggers used the same approach, going with Valdez pitches to right field and taking advantage of the cozy dimensions in that corner. Heim’s homer traveled just 336 feet, barely eluding the leaping grasp of Houston’s Kyle Tucker.
After Houston took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Mitch Garver led off the top of the second with a solo home run to make it 1-1 against Astros starter Framber Valdez.
Garver had 19 home runs in the regular season and hit one in the ALDS against the Orioles, driving in seven runs in that series.
Jose Altuve led off the bottom of the first with a single, stole second and came around to score the opening run on Yordan Alvarez’s single against Nathan Eovaldi.
HOUSTON — Bryan Abreu, the Houston Astros reliever suspended two games for a wayward pitch in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, isn’t going anywhere – for the moment.
Abreu officially appealed his decision, the Astros announced less than an hour before Sunday’s Game 6 between the Astros and Texas Rangers and will be available out of Houston’s bullpen as they attempt to advance to the World Series.
Houston manager Dusty Baker said Abreu, Major League Baseball and union officials were set to meet at 5 CT, two hours before gametime, where a potential compromise presumably would be discussed.
But both sides apparently held firm: The two-game suspension will stand, Abreu will appeal and MLB rules state that a hearing will be held within 48 hours so that it is not held in abeyance through the playoffs.
“I’m not a lawyer,” Baker said Sunday afternoon when asked the potential outcome of the meeting. “Even though my mom wanted me to be a lawyer, that’s too much school.
“So it’s in the hands of the lawyers.”
Abreu was ejected from Friday’s Game 5 for hitting Rangers slugger Adolis Garcia with a pitch that umpires ruled was intentionally thrown at the batter; MLB agreed with the assessment and levied a two-game suspension.
If the Astros win Game 6, any upheld suspension would have to be served during the World Series. A Monday hearing conceivably could knock Abreu, the club’s talented set-up man, out of a Game 7 should the Rangers win Sunday.
Sunday’s game at Minute Maid Park is scheduled to begin at 8:07 p.m. ET, airing on Fox Sports 1.
Texas Rangers
Starting pitcher: RHP Nathan Eovaldi
- Marcus Semien (R) 2B
- Corey Seager (L) SS
- Robbie Grossman (S) LF
- Adolis Garcia (R) RF
- Mitch Garver (R) DH
- Jonah Heim (S) C
- Nathaniel Lowe (L) 1B
- Josh Jung (R) 3B
- Leody Taveras (S) CF
Houston Astros
Starting pitcher: LHP Framber Valdez
- Jose Altuve (R) 2B
- Michael Brantley (L) LF
- Alex Bregman (R) 3B
- Yordan Alvarez (L) DH
- Jose Abreu (R) 1B
- Kyle Tucker (L) RF
- Mauricio Dubon (R) CF
- Jeremy Pena (R) SS
- Martin Maldonado (R)
HOUSTON — The Astros were split on whether Adolis Garcia’s aggressive actions toward catcher Martin Maldonado helped spur their comeback in Game 5. At the least, it seemed they kept their heads just a bit better than the Rangers.
The playoffs aren’t the place to settle scores, especially with the umpiring crew on high alert from the get-go. Yet the Rangers facing an elimination game and the Game 5 aftermath will make the tension more palpable.
“Man, I don’t know. I don’t have no crystal ball,” says Astros manager Dusty Baker, who also was ejected from Game 5. “I mean, it’s going to be what it’s going to be. You have to wait and see, just like me.
“Like we don’t script it, it just happens.”
