A fairly boring Game 6 of the ALCS turned into a classic in the ninth inning, and ended with a pennant-clinching home run for the Houston Astros.
In the top of the ninth with the Astros leading 4-2, the Yankees’ DJ LeMahieu hit an opposite field two-run homer off Houston closer Roberto Osuna to keep New York’s season alive. Houston right fielder George Springer almost robbed it.
OCTOBER BASEBALL IS UNDEFEATED!
THIS. GAME. IS. TIED. pic.twitter.com/P7FKJ10Xwu
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2019
That. Close. pic.twitter.com/9nQ77LbI4n
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 20, 2019
But the good feelings for the Yankees and their fans only lasted a few minutes. In the bottom of the ninth, Jose Altuve cranked a two-run blast off Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman — on a hanging slider — to give the Astros a walk-off, pennant-clinching 6-4 victory.
GO CRAZY, HOUSTON!!! pic.twitter.com/QCOSDExsSV
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) October 20, 2019
The Astros win the pennant! The Astros win the pennant! pic.twitter.com/iNRu1Eai89
— MLB (@MLB) October 20, 2019
Absolutely incredible.
The Astros — the 2017 World Series champs — entered the postseason as World Series favorites, and we can see why so far. They’ll certainly have a difficult challenge in the World Series against a rested Washington Nationals squad that features a trio of ace-level arms in Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg, and Patrick Corbin. Of course, the Astros have three ace-level arms themselves in Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander, and Zack Greinke (though Greinke has struggled in the postseason). Ending the ALCS before Game 7 also allows the Astros to save Cole for Game 1 of the World Series.
Astros-Nats should be a very entertaining World Series, and the seven-game series gets started Tuesday at 8 PM ET in Houston.
